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Transcript

Impacting Your Environment · CCC West Covina

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Lord God, we thank you for tonight and we are grateful for
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all that you do. And you've blessed us with so
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many blessings, Lord, And your word is the greatest of all
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blessings because it expresses to us the the beauty of your
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name. It shows us exactly what it is
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you want us to do with your children.
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And we thank you, Lord, for the encouragement and comfort that
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it brings. We are blessed people, and we
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want to thank You for that. Tonight as we open Your word, we
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pray that you would instruct us in the way that we should go.
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We pray, Lord, that you'd open our eyes to behold the beauty of
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the Lord. We pray, Lord, that you would
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encourage the faint hearted, that you would comfort those
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Lord, who are downtrodden, and that, Lord, your word would
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speak to their hearts. That Your Spirit would use Your
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word to strengthen us every single day until you come again,
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as you most surely will in Jesus name, Amen.
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Take your Bible if you would and turn to Matthew chapter 5.
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Matthew chapter 5. There are many nursery rhymes
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that I'm sure yet you know very very well.
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My my favorite is Humpty Dumpty. It goes like this.
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Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
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and all the King's horses and and all the King's men could not
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put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
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Humpty Dumpty was, was quite a man.
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I'm not sure you've ever met him or not, but he was a man in
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control of his life. He, he was a man who knew what
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he wanted to do in life. So one day Humpty Dumpty decided
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to take a stroll, and I'm taking that stroll.
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He decided to do something he had never done before, and that
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was climb a wall. So he did.
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He climbed up in the wall and he wanted to get a view of the
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world that he'd never seen before, thinking that it would
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give him a good worldview, a good perspective on life.
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But something all of a sudden, horribly happens.
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He falls off of the wall. He wasn't pushed off the wall,
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he just simply fell off the wall.
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And lo and behold, his whole life was shattered.
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His whole life was broken. His life was in shambles.
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He was in desperate need of help.
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And help would come, but help did not come from his friends,
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help did not come from his family.
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Help did not even come from his work associates.
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Help came from our nation's capital.
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It came from Washington, DC. In fact, Humpty Dumpty was such
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a unique man that Congress decided to have an emergency
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session to decide how quickly they could dispatch to meet the
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needs of Humpty Dumpty. And so they dispatched all the
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King's horses and all the King's men.
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And upon arrival to where Humpty Dumpty had fallen, they quickly
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came to realize that they could not put Humpty Dumpty back
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together again. And Humpty Dumpty trusted in the
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best of the land, the King's horses and the King's men.
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But they were unable to do what Humpty Dumpty needed done.
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They could not put him back together again.
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And so as you read the nursery rhyme, you must remember that
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the nursery rhyme is not about Humpty Dumpty.
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It's all about the King's horses, and it's all about the
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King's men. And it shows us how ineffective
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that the best of the land can be when it comes to tackling man's
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shattered lives. Our world has all kinds of
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problems. There's crime, there's sex
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trafficking, there's drugs, there's alcoholism, there's
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child abuse, there's spousal abuse, there is murder.
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But none of those are really the problem.
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They're just symptoms to a deeper problem, and that is sin
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in the life of every person. For sin is embedded in the heart
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of a man, and man is completely shattered, completely broken.
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And no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to find
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help in this world. No matter how expensive the help
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is, no matter how important the help may be, they are unable,
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they are ineffective to put man's broken, shattered life
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back together again. But there is someone who can.
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And believe it or not, that someone who can is sitting in
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this room tonight. For you are the solution to
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man's shattered soul. For the Lord said you are salt
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and you are light in a world that's decaying and
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deteriorating. You as a child of the living God
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are its salt. In a world that's dark and
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depressed, you are its light. And believe it or not, what
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Washington cannot do, you can do because God has equipped you to
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do that. He gives us the identity of a
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child of the king in verses 1 to 12.
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He very strategically interprets the identity of children of the
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king, and then he specifically articulates the authority of
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those who are children of the king in Matthew 5, verses 13 to
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16. This is what it says.
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You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become
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tasteless, how can it be made salty again?
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It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out
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and trampled in the foot by men. You are the light of the world.
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A city set on the hill cannot be hidden.
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Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on
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the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the
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house. Let your light shine before men
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in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your
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Father who is in heaven. Interesting that the Lord says
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that the people that are reviled the most, the people that are
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persecuted the most, the people that are slandered the most, are
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the only solution to a shattered, decaying, Dark World.
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The peacemakers are the ones who truly can bring peace to
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shattered lives. So Christ makes it very clear
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that when he identifies His children, He specifies their
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authority. They are salt and they are light
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in a world that's decaying and dark.
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You are the solution to the world's problem because Christ
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ordained you to be such. And so we have three points this
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evening. One is simply understanding what
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it means to be salt and light, and that's we're going to
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address the the condition of society.
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Then we're going to articulate the solution from the Scriptures
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and then we'll apply some directions for the Saints.
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If you have an outline, you can follow along with us.
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But addressing the condition of society is is not very hard at
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all because society is is decaying.
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Society is not getting any better.
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It's never going to get better. I love to talk to my post
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millennial friends because they think that things are going to
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get better. Just get enough Christians in
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government and just get enough Christian doctors and enough
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Christian lawyers and enough Christian mayors and enough
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Christian teachers and you can usher in the Kingdom.
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Things will be better. I'm not sure what Bible they're
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reading, but they're reading not the same Bible I'm reading
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because things are not getting any better.
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They're getting worse. They're continually decaying.
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Even the second law of thermodynamics in science points
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that out extremely well. But man is not getting better.
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He's getting worse. And over 250 years ago, almost
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300 years ago, it was Isaac Watts who who wrote a a hymn
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entitled Am IA, Soldier of the Cross.
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And in that hymn he asks several questions that need to be
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answered. Listen to what it says.
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Am IA Soldier of the Cross, the follower of the Lamb.
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Good question. Are you and shall I fear to own
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his cause or blush to speak his name?
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That's a good question. Must I be carried to the skies
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on flowery beds of ease while others fight to win the prize
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and sail through bloody seas? Again, Another great question.
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And they says this. Are there no foes for me to
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face? Must I not stem the flood?
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Is this vile world a friend to grace to help me on to God?
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Great question, is this vile world a friend of grace to help
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me on to God? The answer is no.
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If you set under university professors, will they help you
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unto God? If you read the books of
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society, will they help you unto God?
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If you were to receive counsel from a psychiatrist, will they
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help you unto God? Answer no.
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If I if I live the way of the world, will it help me in any
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way get closer to God? Answer no Why?
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Because we live in a vile world. We live in a decaying society
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that's only getting worse and worse with each progressing day.
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It's not getting any better. Paul would say that evil men and
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imposters, Second Timothy Chapter 3, are only going to get
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worse and worse, not better and better.
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Why is that? Well, first, John 519 tells you.
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It says the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
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It's no wonder all the King's horses and all the King's men
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could not put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
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Why? Because they're under the power
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of the Evil 1. They're directed by Satan
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himself. They have no answer to man's
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dilemma. Oh, they can change laws and
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they can rewrite all kinds of prescriptions, but that's not
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going to change man's inner soul.
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They can't do that. The Bible says in John 1611 that
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Satan is the Prince of the world.
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The Ephesians 22, he's the Prince of the power of the air.
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Second Corinthians 44 says he's the God of this age.
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I mean, everything about the world is under Satan's domain.
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The Lord has allowed that to happen.
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He's allowed Satan to run his course.
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So everything in society is ruled by Satan.
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It's no wonder that nothing of the world can help you move to
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God because it's not a friend of grace at all.
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It only takes you further and further away from the Lord.
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Over in Philippians chapter 2, Paul says this in verse 14.
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Do all things without grumbling and disputing so that you may
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prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God
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above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
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So so Paul is addressing the Church of Philippi some 2000
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years ago and says that you need to appear as lights in the world
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because you live in a crooked and perverse generation.
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He goes on to say this, Among whom you appear as lights in the
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world, holding fast the word of life, said in the day of Christ.
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I will have reason to glory, because I did not run in vain,
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nor toil in vain. So we live amidst A perverse and
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crooked generation. Paul would say it this way in
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Romans 3 verse #10 There is none righteous, not even one.
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There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God.
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All have turned aside. Together they have become
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useless. There is none who does good.
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There is not even one. Their throats are an open grave.
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With their tongue they keep deceiving.
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The poison of ASPs is under their lips, whose mouth is full
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of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
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blood. Destruction and misery are in
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their paths, and the path of peace they have not known, and
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there is No Fear of God before their eyes.
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You see, the reason all the King's horses and all the King's
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men could not put Humpty Dumpty back together again is because
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all the King's horses and all the King's men were as broken
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and shattered as Humpty Dumpty was.
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They just did not recognize how broken they were.
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But they were. That's why they could offer no
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help. There was no solution.
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Why? Romans 3 tells you, Philippians
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2 tells you, Second Timothy 3 tells you.
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That's the world in which we live in.
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It's the world under the reign of Satan, and he wants to
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destroy everything that God has done and is doing.
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So the world is is decaying. In fact, all you got to do is
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read the book of Genesis right in the beginning.
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God created the heavens and the earth.
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And when you get to the end of Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis
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chapter 2, everything's good. The fact is very good.
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Oh, Genesis 3, the fall of man occurs, right?
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And in Genesis 6, the Bible says this.
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The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth,
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and that every intent of the fonts of his heart was only evil
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continually. From Genesis 3 to Genesis 6, God
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says that every intent of every thought in every heart was only
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evil continually. So what did He do?
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He destroyed the whole planet. Everybody on it except for eight
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souls started over again. You come to Genesis chapter 18,
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Abraham pleads with the Lord. If there be 50 righteous in the
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city, will you spare the city? God says, yeah, I'll spare it
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for 50. How about 45?
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Yep, 45. How about 4040 righteous souls
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in Sodom and Gomorrah? Spare the city, God says I'll
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spare it. How about 30?
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Yep. 20. Yeah.
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Whoa. How about 10?
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Yep, that's where Abram stopped and God destroyed all of Sodom
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and Gomorrah because there was only righteous Lot in the city.
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And isn't it interesting in Luke 17 it tells us to remember Lot's
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wife because she was turned into what?
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A pillar of salts as a reminder to every husband in the room
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that you need to be salt in light, primarily in your family
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and then in your city. But if you're not salt and light
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in your family, how do you expect to win the city?
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We, we love to, to, to send people on missions trips and we
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love to tell people how, how we shared the gospel with people at
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work. But are you salt in light in
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your very own home? Because if you are not, you have
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failed miserably and Lot failed miserably.
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We we would never know that Lot was a righteous man if it wasn't
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for Peter telling us he was righteous law.
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Because when you read the book of Genesis, you don't get
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anything about that from Lot's perspective that he was a
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righteous man and yet God did something very specific tells
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the wife, do not look back. She does.
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But that's a, that's more of a leadership issue on Lot's part
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than anything else. Because you remember, she was in
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the back. She was behind everyone else,
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right? Why?
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Because no one there could scold her.
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No one there could stop her. She was in the back.
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Leadership says you go up front, I'll bring up the rear and I
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will take you out of here. Well, I didn't do that, failed
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miserably as a as a husband. And so many men today fail
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miserably at home because they're not salt and light at
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home. And yet that's the primary
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emphasis of your ministry. I mean, you can you can read
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about missionaries and people have travelled the country and
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and shared the gossip with people and one many souls to the
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Lord. But their hand their their
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families are going to hell in a handbasket because they missed
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the ministry, the main ministry of home that should not be.
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You live in a world that's decaying and everything begins.
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Discipleship begins at home. Does it begin in church doesn't
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begin with your neighbor. It begins at home with your
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family, with your wife as a father, husband to children.
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That's where it begins. So the world is, is decaying.
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The world's dark dark. That's the condition of society.
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Spiritual darkness dominates the entire world system.
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But you know what? The world lives it that way.
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First, John, I'm sorry, John 3 verse #19 and this is the
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judgment that light has come into the world and men love the
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darkness rather than the light for their deeds are evil.
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Romans one verse #21 when they knew God, they glorified him not
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as God. Neither we're thankful, but
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because or, but excuse me, but became vain in their
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imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
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Christ would later say in Matthew chapter 6, which we will
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cover down the road. These words, If therefore the
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light that is in you be darkness, how great is that
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darkness? And then in John 9, Christ says,
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As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
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And he warned them in John 12 verse #35 Yet a little while is
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the light with you. Walk while you have the light,
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lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
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knows not where he he goes. The world is dark because the
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Prince of Darkness rules the world.
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The world is decaying because Satan is the destroyer.
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He wants everything to be destroyed.
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But God has a solution. God has a very simple, simple
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solution, and that is His children.
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His children are the answer to man's shattered soul.
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You, he says, are the salt of the earth.
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You are the light of the world. The word you is emphatic.
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You and you only. Nobody else.
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Just you. Not you and this organization or
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you and that organization. It's just you, children of the
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king. You are the salt of the world,
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and the you is plural. So you, collectively as my
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children, are the solution. What?
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1 grain of salt does not help your burger much or your French
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fries much. You got to douse it with salt,
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right? My my father loves salt.
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He used the salt pretzels. He would salt salt and vinegar
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potato chips. He put salt on Chinese food.
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He put salt on everything because he just loved salt.
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But never did he put one little grain of salt on anything.
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He would douse it with salt. Well, so here is the Lord saying
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you, plural, are the salt of the earth. 1 grain does not do much,
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but collectively you will make a significant impact.
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Because you see, everything is about influence.
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Everything is about impact. It was William Shakespeare who
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said these words. All the world's stage and all
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the men and women are merely players and each man at his time
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makes his entrance and has many parts.
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It was Eli who Burritt who said these words.
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He said no human being can come into this world without
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increasing or diminishing the sum total of human happiness,
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not only of the present age, but of every subsequent age of
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humanity. It was the writer of Acts, Luke,
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who says in Acts 1336 that David, after he served God in
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his generation, fell asleep among his father's.
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David after he served God in his generation.
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He can only impact his generation, just like you and I
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can only impact this generation. And God has called us
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collectively to be salt and to be light in the world that's
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decaying, in the world that is is dark.
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Salt retards corruption and light is that which reveals
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truth. Salt acts silently where light
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acts verbally. Salt is how we live that retards
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corruption and light is how we speak.
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When we manifest light, the influence or to influence
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something in another direction means you must be the complete
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opposite going the other direction.
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That's why the Lord says, what fellowship have light with
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darkness, What fellowship have the Lord with Belial come out
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from among them and be separate, be unique, be distinct.
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As Christians, we we are completely different than the
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world, but yet we're in the world.
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And Christ would pray, Lord, take them not out of the world,
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but protect them while they're in the world, because we are the
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salt and light. So while you're in the world,
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you're not to be of the world, because by being in the world,
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you act as salt to retard the corruption.
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You act as light to reveal the gospel, to reveal the truth and
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the Lord establish it. That you and I would be the
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solution to all the Humpty Dumpties that have fallen in the
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world, which is everybody and nobody can help them except us
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children of the King, people who know the Lord.
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We are the solution. We are the ones that help people
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come to grips with the reality of the sovereign God who rules
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the earth. So as you articulate the
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solution from scripture #1 it's a fact that you are light.
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You are salt #2 the function of of salt and the function of
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light. We, we are to shake the salt and
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we are to shine the light. Salt does no good by staying on
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the counter or in the cupboard. Ever notice that you might, You
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might want a salty burger, but as long as Morton salt sits in
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your cupboard, it's nothing's going to happen.
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You got to take it out and shake it on the object you want to
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flavor. Is that not true?
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Sure it is. So as salt, you can't afford to
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sit on the shelf. You got to be actively involved.
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And so you must understand that that salt was a very valuable
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commodity in the days of Jesus. Why?
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There was no refrigeration, right?
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So salt was that which preserved that which is important, meats
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for say. But notice this, the Romans said
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that outside of the sun, salt is the most valuable thing on the
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planet. Why salt was so valuable that
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they used to pay their soldiers with salt.
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My mom used to always say, son, make sure you're worth your
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salt. I'm like, what does that mean,
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worth my salt? But she knew what that meant.
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That means that soldiers were paid in salt because it was so
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valuable that they could use that over and over again.
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So salt was a very valuable commodity.
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So valuable that when 2 enemies sat down and shared salt
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together, they had to be kind to one another and show friendship
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in spite of the fact that they were enemies.
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That's how valuable salt was in ancient days.
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Salt also represents purity. The color, it's white and
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although it's talking about being tasteful or taste less,
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not specifically speaking about the color, there is something
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about salt and it's color that emphasizes purity and holiness.
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So it also creates A thirst. The more salt you take in, the
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the thirstier you are. And there's something about you
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and me being the salt of the earth that creates a a thirst in
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those all around us. And even though we are the ones
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that are reviled and slandered and persecuted the most based on
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verses 10/11/12 there there's something about the life that
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causes and creates thirst and those around you.
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Because there's something about your life that is so appetizing
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that people want to be a part of.
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Salt is also that which causes great pain.
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For if you put salt in a wound, it stings.
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It stings loud, right? But that's what Christians do.
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They have a stinging influence, a stinging impact in society,
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because society is nothing but an open wound anyway.
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And when you shake salt in that open wound, there is all kinds
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of pain and turmoil in those who receive that which you have
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shaken. But most importantly, salt is
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that what curbs corruption. Salt did that.
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It preserved those things which are valuable and we as
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Christians represent God's presence on earth and light.
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Salt is to be shaken, but light is to be shown.
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We're to shine forth the light. The Bible says the Philippians
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215 that we are to appear as lights in the world.
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The Bible says in in second Peter 14 we are partakers of the
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divine nature. Now think about that.
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We are we are partakers of Christ divine nature, and God
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himself is light. Remember, in the beginning God
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created the heavens and the earth.
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The very first thing God created was light.
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That's not the sun, the moon and the stars.
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They were created on David number 4.
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But God creates light first. Why?
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Because God is light and the world needs to see God first and
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so he creates light first. Because everything about
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creation screams God. Everything about it, the order
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of creation, the way He created, screams nothing but God.
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So at the very outset, you need to know that God created the
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heavens and the earth, and the very first thing He created was
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light. He also, by the way, created
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darkness. You know, that's why they have
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45 verse #7 you say what? What was there before?
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Before the earth was created? Nothing.
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Well, what does nothing look like?
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I don't know, nothing. There's just nothing there.
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But dark is a creation by God. Isaiah 45 verse #7 I the Lord
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and the one who creates darkness, but he is the one who
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creates light, because he is the light of the world.
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The Bible says in Ephesians 5 verse #8 For you were once in
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darkness, but now are you light in the Lord?
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Walk as children of light. We walk as children of the
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light. We're to walk like Christ, we're
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to walk very brightly, not dimly but very brightly, so people can
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see the way to the living God. But notice failure, the failure
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of the tastelessness of salt and the lightlessness of light.
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He says very clearly. You are the salty earth.
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But if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made
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salty again? It is no longer good for
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anything except to be thrown out and trampled under foot.
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He's not talking about losing your salvation.
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He's talking about losing your influence and losing your
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impact. If you become contaminated by
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the things of the world, if your purity is compromised, if your
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holiness is is corrupted, your ability to make impact is
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minimized. Think about that.
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Think about how it is you to train your children to live pure
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and holy lives. If you live in impurity, how do
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you train your children to live impurity?
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It's hard, isn't it? Think of the life of King David,
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right? How?
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How could he train his children to follow the Lord and not
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commit adultery and not commit immorality because he was
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immoral himself or Solomon his son, or Rayobum his son?
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You see, it's very easily passed down corruption because our
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light has been dimmed, our salt has become tasteless, has become
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contaminated. Now it's it's hard for sodium
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chloride to to be contaminated, but it can be mixed with foreign
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substances, substances to make it tasteless or not as tasteful.
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And whenever you begin to mix a foreign substance, something of
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the world, into your Christianity, your saltiness is
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compromised and you're not nearly as stingy as you should
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be in the wound. You're not nearly as as white
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and pure as you should be. And you can't preserve
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corruption if you yourself engage in corrupt behavior.
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So the Lord gives a warning about the failure of of not
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becoming the salt or being the salt you need to be.
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You see, we don't, we don't become salt, we are salt.
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We don't become light. We are light.
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But our salt can lose its flavor, its tastefulness.
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Our light can become dim simply because of sin, simply because
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of compromise, simply because we refuse to do what God has called
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us to do. And so very simply, we need to
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let our light shine before men. He says you're the light of the
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world. A city set on a hill cannot be
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hidden. Nor does anyone light a lamp and
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put it under a basket, but on the lampstand and it gives light
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to all who are in the house. It's a good illustration because
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your light should shine the brightest Ware at home.
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He uses the lamp stand. He uses the house as an example
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that that's not by accident. Our light should shine so
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brightly at home. Now think about it.
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When you put a lamp on the lamp stand, you don't hide it under a
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bushel, you don't hide it under a basket.
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Yes, some rays of light might seep through the holes that are
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there, but you would take off that lid so the whole room is is
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lit up with brightness so you can see.
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Christ makes it very clear that He wants those in your home to
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see the brightness of your life. And then he says this, he says
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let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see
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your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
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This is the fulfillment aspect. It's all about beauty and glory,
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The good works. Kalos deals with beauty,
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attractiveness. It's not Agathas which is with
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quality. It's Kalos that deals with the
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beauty and attractiveness of the light.
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Remember a city set on a hill in, in, in, in those days, if
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even today, if you were to go to Israel, it, it is so dark around
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the Sea of Galilee, but you can see cities on hills all around
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the Sea of Galilee that are all lit up.
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It's not one light on a hill. It's a myriad of lights on a
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hill that light up the city. Why?
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Because they all function together as one.
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And Christ says the world needs to see your beauty and to see
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see me. It's about glorifying me.
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You don't shine for yourself. You don't shake the salt for
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yourself. It's all about the Lord.
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It's all about glorifying your Father who is in heaven that
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they might come to know the saving grace of God.
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In Second Kings chapter 4, there's a story of Elijah and he
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went to the little village of Shinham, never said anything,
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never performed a miracle, never preached the truth.
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But there was a lady in the city who saw him and invited him to
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come to dinner at her house with her husband.
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And Elijah would go, and every time he entered the city he was
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invited to come for dinner. But the Bible records no record
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that he ever said anything to the woman and to her husband.
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And the woman says to her husband, I perceive that this
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man is a man of God. He never said a word, never
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preach A sermon, never performed a miracle.
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The only thing he did was eat. In other words, it adds whole
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new meaning to 1st Corinthians 1031, that whatever you do,
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whether you eat or whether you drink, do all to the glory of
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God. Just by the way you eat and
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drink puts God on display. Elisha did.
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Because we are to shine so brightly.
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We're to shake so fervently the salt and light the others will
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never mistake that we truly are children of the king.
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Last point, applying some directions for the Saints as
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salt you should be rubbing into society, rubbing into society.
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Think about where you work and why you work there.
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Think about where you go to school and why you go to that
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school. Think about where you live and
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what neighborhood you live in. Just to let you know that you're
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there by divine appointment. Yes, you bought your house.
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Yes, you chose the school you go to.
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Yes, you accepted the job at your place of employment.
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All that's true. But it was all under the
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direction of the sovereignty of the living God.
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God directed you. God moved you.
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God took you where you were. God did this, right?
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Why? Because he's called you to live
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out your spiritual existence in a specific sphere of influence,
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right? He has you there and no one else
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there. He puts you in that school, in
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that classroom with that professor.
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He puts you in that workplace under that boss with those
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people. Why?
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Because you are the salt of the earth.
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You are the light of the world. And God says, I want you to
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shine right there. I, I, I want you to rub into
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that place right there. That's where I want you to shake
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your salt and shine your light. That's where I want you to be a
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stinging influence. That's where I want you to be a
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purifying influence. That's why I want you to be a
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preservative. That's where I want you to
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prevent corruption. That's why I want you to speak
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forth the lights so people will know the truth of the gospel.
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That that's why, that's why the word of God is called light.
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That's why the word Incarnate is called light.
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So you have the the infinite word is light because God is
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light. Yeah, the inspired word, which
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is light, that was a light into my path and a lamp into my feet.
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And you have the Incarnate Word, which is light for Christ as I
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am the light of the world. So the infinite word, the
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inspired word, the Incarnate Word are all light.
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And so you use that word to to speak forth the truth.
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So you shed light into a place that God's called you to live
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out your spiritual existence. See, that's just a great thing
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about being you. The great thing about being you
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is that God puts you when he put nobody else.
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That that's why God gave you the kids he gave you.
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He didn't give you my kids. He gave you your kids.
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He didn't give me your kids. He gave you your kids because
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God wants you to be that light at home.
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He wants you to be that salt at home.
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He wants you to be that purifying influence all
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throughout your house, all throughout your workplace.
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This is where God has placed you.
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And so He wants you as salt to rub into society.
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So often have you noticed that the world has seemed to rub more
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into the church than the church has rubbed into the world.
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The church is becoming more and more like the world.
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We want to accept the people of the world, the things of the
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world. When the Bible is very clear
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love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
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Why the world's passing away? The lesser of but he doesn't
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will. God abides forever.
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We gathered together as Saints that we might learn to grow.
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And I walk with the Lord so that when we dispersed from this
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place, we can act as salt and light in a World of Darkness and
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decay. So as salt we are to rub into
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society, as light we are to reflect our Savior.
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Donald Gray Barnhouse was a master of illustration, and this
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is what he says about this text. When Christ was in the world, he
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was like the shining sun, which is here in the day and gone at
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night. When the sunsets, the moon comes
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up, and the moon is a picture of the believers or the church.
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The church shines, but it does not shine with its own light.
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It shines with reflected light. When Jesus was in the world, he
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said I am the light of the world.
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But as he contemplated leaving the world, he told his
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disciples, You are the light of the world.
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At times the church has been a full moon, dazzling the world
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with an almost daytime light. These have been times of great
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enlightenment, such as those of Paul and Luther and Wesley.
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And at other times the church has been only a thumbnail moon,
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and very little light shines on the earth.
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But whether the church is a full moon or a new thumbnail moon,
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waxing or waning, it reflects the light of the sun.
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As lights of the world, we reflect the Savior.
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The question comes for you and me, how?
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How great is that reflection? How is it as little moons we
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are, we are reflecting the light of the sun?
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Interesting, the Bible says in Malachi 4 verse #2 that the
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Messiah will be called the Sun SUN of Righteousness.
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The Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.
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The Messiah was called the Day Star because of the brightness
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of that star. And we, his children, are like
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little moons shining because we're reflecting not our light,
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but his light to all those roundabout us.
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So tonight, as we as we close, we're going to do something a
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little bit different. I want you to all stand up with
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me if you would please go ahead. Don't be bashful to stand up.
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And I want you to exit outside of your your Pew.
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And I want you to gather around with me here and all around the
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auditorium. We're going to hold hands, and
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we're doing this specifically because as collective salt and
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light, we have the opportunity to impact this world.
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And as individuals, as individuals, we can make an
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impact, right? But as a church with all of us
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together, the light shines so much brighter because all of us
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are the light of the world. All of us are the salt of the
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earth. And we can, we can like jump up
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and down and act like we're salt salt shakers and, and act like
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we're pouring salt all over the world or, or, But the bottom
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line is that we are all salt and we are all light.
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And we have the opportunity as a church to make an impact not
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just in West Covina, but wherever God calls us to live
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out of spiritual existence. So I want to close in prayer
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tonight with all of us holding hands and thanking God for what
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he's done to make us who we are, that we might be be used by him.
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Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for
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for today. I want to thank you for everyone
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in the room. I'm going to thank you as we we
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hold hands together, symbolically representing the
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fact that all of us are salt. All of us are light.
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All of us together make a significant impact.
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All of us as as a family of Christians, as a as a Church of
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Christians, we had the opportunity to touch the lives
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of those all around us. My prayer, Father, is that as we
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as we look at this lesson and realize what you've called us to
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be, you've called us to be salt and light, that we would be that
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that you would use us with those closest to us, with those we go
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to work with tomorrow, the those we sit in class with tomorrow,
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those who rub shoulders with in our neighborhood, that they
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would know there's something different about our lives simply
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because we are salt and we are light.
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So Lord, our prayer is that you would use us for your glory as a
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church, for your purposes, that others might know who you are
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and glorify our Father who is in heaven.
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We pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.