Good morning. Would y'all stand? I want to welcome those online with us and you who are here live with us to Calvary Chapel this morning. Would you join me in prayer? Father, we ask for your blessing on our service this morning. Father, may we just worship you from our hearts this morning as we come just as we are. By faith we'll worship you, Lord, and trust you.

And Father, as we look to a new day, Lord, may we worship you and trust you in every area of our life, Lord. Just let go and come to you, Lord. We just thank you.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. Oh, worship his hope.

Sing like men. Worship your hope. The sun comes up. It's a new day dawn. It's time to sing your song again. Whatever lies before, let me be singing with.

Bless the Lord, his hope.

Worship your grace and your hope. For on sin, ten thousand reasons for my heart to find. Bless the Lord, O worship his hope. The end draws near, and my time has come. Soon we'll sing a thousand years and then forever.

Bless the Lord, my soul. Worship his hope.

Worship your hope. His hope.

Worship your hope. We praise you this morning. As we come, we may not feel a lot of stuff. Those feelings are cabooses, Lord. It's like a caboose on a train. It just comes right along behind. They vary. You're faithful.

Life starts to whirl.

It couldn't be treasures that fade. Yes. Whenever you came along together, it's now satisfying. Here in earth and in you.

To show you we've seen them all. And you still call me friend.

Mountains, the God of your mercy and grace. Won't find me again. Nothing in earth shaming. To glory. Your name is in glory. You're the only one. Into gones, into armies. You turn seas into highways. You're the only one. We do love you, Lord. We thank you for your goodness.

Have the goodness. Then in darkest night.

Known you as a fall and dirt now. I give you goodness. It's running out. It's running out and out. It's running out and out. It's running out. I surrender it's running out. It's running out. It's running out. It's running out. It's running out. That's our desire. Praise you, Lord. Thank you. How good you are to us. You give love. You give hope. You restore every heart that is broke.

It's your breath in our lungs. So we pour out our praise. It's your breath. In our lungs So we pour out

Restore So we pour out In our lungs So we pour out Pour out our praise It's your breath So we Your praise We'll shout your praise Our hearts will cry These bones will sing praise Our hearts will cry These bones will sing Your praise Our hearts will cry So we So we pour out So we Thank you for the breath you've given us, Lord. Continue to strengthen us to live this life we're living in you, with you. Lord, we're actually in this world, but we're not of it. So strengthen us, Lord.

Would you stand? Worship, worship, worship Promise keeper Light in the darkness My God, that is who you are You are our way maker Miracle worker Promise keeper Light in the darkness My God, that is who you are I worship you Worship You are I worship you Worship In the darkness My God, that is who you are That is who you are Promise keeper Light in the darkness My God, that is who you are Worship you Worship Worship you Worship In the darkness My God, that is who you are It's your work and You never stop You never stop working You never stop You never stop working Even when I don't see it You're working Even when I don't feel it You're working You never stop You never stop working You never stop You never stop working Promise keeper

Light in the darkness My God, that is who you are You are our way maker Promise keeper Light in the darkness My God, that is who you are That is who you are That is who you are. That is who you are.

So good to us, Lord. You are the one who makes a way for us, Lord. You're the one who keeps your promises.

You're the light in the darkness, Lord.

Sing that chorus with me one more time. You are the way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God. That is who you are. You are the way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. Father, please bless our time in your word.

I know it, Ryan. To teach that by your Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning.

Glad you can be with us this morning. If you would go ahead and locate your seat and grab your bulletin, we'll go over a few quick announcements.

Over on the left side, everything's back to normal. Everything's going on this week, including the fact that marriage and family study is tonight. So those are the things going on over on the left hand. Over on the right hand side, over in the middle section of your bulletin, a few things to pay attention to. First of all, reminder, fellas, we have our men's breakfast

coming up this Saturday, October the 16th in the Agape Room. So come join us for that. That's at 8 o'clock in the morning. Also, Operation Christmas Child, just a reminder that the boxes are due back November the 14th. And if you're interested in going to Dallas, there's Jana's number there that you can get a hold of her to let her know that you're interested.

Also, I think there's a sign. There's a sign up sheet in the back, right? If you're interested in going. And then a couple of things to pay attention to for Operation Christmas Child. Number one, we are out of the prefabricated boxes that we had back there. I do think they're going to try to order some more, but we are out of those for right now. But the other thing is that in the back, there's a green tub

that's got a bunch of little toys in it that have been donated that if you want to add some extra stuff to your box, those are in that tub. They're in the back, some little stuffed animals, things like that. So those things are back there. Make sure that we're starting our stack over here, which is a beautiful thing to see. And then upcoming youth events, a couple of things that the youth group has planned.

On October the 17th, the youth group is going to be going up to the Pumpkin Patch. I believe the one, and I'm looking to see if he's in here. I believe it's the one up in Augusta. It'll be from 2 to 6 after church that Sunday, and the cost is $7. $7. And then the other thing that's coming up is maybe the most fun thing you'll ever do in your entire life, and that is the Pumpkin Chase.

On November the 5th, it's a great big scavenger hunt, and I know that Jared is going to be looking for two types of people to help out with this, and I'm telling you all that because you may not be youth group people, but you could be helper people. He needs drivers, and he needs sitters. Somebody has to take Nick Calm Down from winning all the time as a driver. And we do know that you have to obey all traffic laws, right?

So, not that that's ever been an issue, but that's... Anyway, if you're interested in helping out with that, go see Jared. And then the other thing that's going on is we have the Prophecy Update this Thursday, October the 14th, down at the other end of the hall there. So, come check that out as Rick shares about all the things going on in the world. So, for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 7.

Psalm 70. Psalm 70. We'll be looking at the New American Standard Bible just so we all sound the same. If you need one, there should be one in a row. And as you're turning to Psalm 70, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses. If you will follow along with Pastor Allen in the even verses. Psalm 70. O God, hasten to deliver me. O Lord, hasten to my help. Let those be ashamed. And humiliated who seek my life. Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt. Let those be turned back because of their shame who say, Aha, aha. Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.

And let those who love your salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. And read verse 5 with me. But I am afflicted and needy. Hasten to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer. O Lord, do not delay. And Father, we come to you as a people who are desperate and needy, Lord. Father, I thank you that you are our helper. Whether it's forces from the outside that we're dealing with.

Whether it's attacks from the inside that we're dealing with. Whether it's anxiety or fear. Lord, financial issues. Whatever it is that we deal with, Lord. We need your help. And so, Lord, we just ask for that even this morning as we spend time in your Word. Lord, speak to us by the power of your Holy Spirit. Continue to lead us and guide us in you. And Lord, may our hearts be open to what you want to share with us this morning.

In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.

And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Matthew, chapter 5. Matthew, chapter 5. We're continuing on in the Sermon on the Mount. The title of this morning's message is Salt, Light, and the Law. Because those are the three things we're going to talk about this morning. This next section, verses 13 through 20, I think is sort of a hinge between the Beatitudes

and then what Jesus is going to discuss about the law. You may remember that when we went through those first 12 verses of the Beatitudes, we said that that was the heart of the kingdom. The heart of the kingdom that, of course, began with being poor in spirit. And as you are poor in spirit, all of those other aspects, all of those other attributes of the heart, of a kingdom citizen, flowed from that one thing.

Well, now, as we come into this next section, we see, first of all, the effect of the heart of the kingdom. Because that effect is that we are salt and light in the world. But then he also segues into a new section within the Sermon on the Mount where he discusses what God truly intended through the law. That the law was not simply an outward action, but the law is also of the heart.

And that because it's also of the heart, we're all found guilty before God. And so he not only reveals to us the righteousness, nature of the law, but our own desperate need for a savior because of what the law says to us. And so in this hinge, we take a look at these three things. And so we pick up in verse 13 of chapter 5, and it says this. You are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket. But on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works

and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever keeps and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom. You will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And so he starts off by telling us a little bit about the character now of who we are because of the heart of the kingdom.

He says, you are the salt of the earth. Now that should cause us to think, why is that what he calls us? And so it made me start thinking as well as other commentators that I read, what was the use of salt, not only in our world, but even at that point in time? And so there's several different uses for salt, especially in the Roman world. The first use of salt was for purification.

It keeps things pure. Think about it. When you got a sore throat as a little kid, what did your mom tell you to do? Gargle with salt water. Why? Because it had a purifying effect. And so salt was used for purification of different things. But salt was also used for preservation. At that point in time, they didn't have the refrigeration that we have now. And so in order to keep things like meat from spoiling, they would pack it in salt.

And that packing of the meat in salt allowed that meat to not spoil. Instead, it allowed it to be preserved. And kept good for a very long time. So it was used for purification, and it was used for preservation. But as a runner, I've realized there's something else that salt is really good for. Salt is really good for hydration. You say, Ryan, that doesn't make any sense.

That's because we don't always understand how the human body works. Now, if too much salt is used, obviously, it begins to dehydrate you. But sodium is an important part of our diet as human beings. And one of the things I learned this summer, because I'm not getting any younger, and I sweat worse than I used to, and I don't handle the heat, as well as I used to.

When I was out running, I was running into an issue. No pun intended. The issue that I kept having is my right calf kept cramping up terribly bad. And I realized something. Water is only as good as the amount of sodium that you also take in. Because sodium helps deliver water to your cells. And so sodium is also, salt is also good for hydration. As a matter of fact, if you don't have enough of it,

it will cause you to ultimately be hydrated. It can actually deplete your body of all of its nutrients if you don't have enough sodium in your body. Salt is also used for flavor. Now, I grew up in a house with a dad that had really high blood pressure. And so we never kept salt on the table. We were just talking about this on Friday. I remember the first time I went over to somebody's house

and they had salt sitting on the table and they salted something. I'm like, what are they doing? That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen anybody do. And now I know salt is used for flavor. It adds a little spice to life. And then of course, salt at that point in time was incredibly valuable. Because it was used for purification and preservation, salt was very valuable.

As a matter of fact, at points in time, Roman soldiers would actually be paid in salt. Which is where that phrase comes from, that someone is worth their salt. In other words, because it's of such great value, that's what it's referred to as. And so when we think about that, we can start thinking about the effect of a disciple on life. That we as disciples in the world that is around us,

if we are the salt of the earth, what does that mean? Well, first of all, that means that we are a purifying effect on the earth. I want you to think about your workplace. When you are standing for the truth of who Jesus is, it has a purifying effect on the people around you. Either one, they will begin to change, or two, they will leave. Not your job, but they'll leave you.

They'll stay away from you. Because of the purifying effect that you have. And in the world, and in the world that we're in today, there's a great purifying effect that takes place because of the disciples of Jesus Christ. Because of those who are true followers that are allowing the kingdom life to live through them. We have a purifying effect. But not only that, we have a preserving effect.

I think about the fact that there are still people who are standing for truth who maybe aren't necessarily Christians, but they at least know the difference between right and wrong. And they know the difference between true and false. And I find myself saying, why? Why do they know that difference? Well, because the Holy Spirit is at work through the church.

And even though there are some people who haven't quite gotten the Jesus thing yet, they at least understand truth. And they understand that there's a difference between true and false. And it's because of the preserving effect of the body of Christ throughout the world today. And the Holy Spirit's at work through us. And so we have a preserving effect. But you know what I also find about believers in Jesus Christ?

We can have a hydrating effect on people. You see, we are not the living water, but I believe that God uses us just like sodium in the body of a runner, uses us to help deliver water to the cells. He helps us deliver moisture to the people that are around us. I want you to think about the fact that every time that you are able to give out the truth of the word of God to somebody, you are acting in that same way by delivering water to the people that are around you that are in such desperate need of something to drink.

We have that hydrating effect. And quite frankly, we as Christians should add flavor to the world. We do. When we give out the truth of who God is, it should add flavor to the world. My concern today in the church today, especially in the Western culture, is we've stopped flavoring the world. We're scared that people are going to say, ooh, too salty, right?

And so we've stopped flavoring the world, but that should be who we are. And may I say, in God's eyes, we as kingdom saints are of great value. As a matter of fact, he's going to tell us later in the book of Matthew, how much more value are you to God than the sparrows of the air and the lilies of the field? Because God sees us as very valuable. And so he says, you are the salt of the earth.

But there's a problem that can take place. He says, but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. By men. If salt loses its desired effect, if it could no longer preserve the food, if it can no longer purify things, if it can no longer add flavor, then it really has no point.

It really is useless. It says if it has lost its pungency, if it's lost its effect, if it's lost its flavor, if it's become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? Now, the question you should be asking is, how can salt lose its flavor? How can salt lose its taste? Well, again, it's because we don't necessarily understand the culture at that point in time.

The place where they got salt, they could end up mixing the salt with soil. It could end up becoming impure. And if the salt would get mixed with soil in the way that they collected it, if it would get mixed with impurities, then it would lose its flavor. It would all of a sudden not do what it was intended to do. And if salt became impure because it was mixed

with the impurities of the earth, then it was only good for us. Then it was only good for one thing. It was only good to be thrown out onto the path. Now, this creates for us a very interesting scenario in our minds, does it not? It creates for us a very interesting picture. If we, kingdom saints, are the salt of the earth and are very valuable and perform a very valuable function

in the eyes of God, but we begin to get mixed with the impurities of the world, then all of a sudden, we don't stop being salt. We start being the wrong kind of salt. Because I want you to take note of the fact that Jesus doesn't say you should try to be the salt of the earth. He says you are the salt of the earth. The minute you begin to declare that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ,

the minute that you begin to declare that you are a member of the kingdom of God, you are the salt of the earth. The question is, what kind of salt are you? Because the right kind of salt performs a very good function. And the entire world sees it and has an effect on the rest of the world. But if the salt begins to be mixed with the impurities of the world,

then it's only good for one thing, and that's to be thrown on the path. Why would they throw salt on the paths? Because what does salt do to grass? It kills it. You see, all of the weeds that might grow up in the path, salt is used to be put on the path in order to kill all of the weeds, so that the path can remain clear. The message is clear that Jesus gives to his disciples.

You will do one of two things as the salt of the earth. You will either preserve life or you will destroy life. That is the effect that a believer in Jesus Christ can have on the world that's around him. I don't know about you, but I would really like for my life to be one that preserves life. I've known a good number of very strong believers in Jesus Christ.

And they've all almost had the exact same effect on me, and they've had a very preserving effect. Because when you see their life, it spurs you on to want to know Jesus more. It encourages you in your walk when you see somebody faithful in the things of God. It preserves your walk in a certain way as you see their walk with Jesus Christ. But I've also known a handful of people, a handful group of people,

that their walk gives them faith. Their walk got mixed with the impurities of the world. And rather than confessing at the moment that their walks got mixed with the impurities of the world, they instead allowed their salt to become tasteless. Because their salt became tasteless, it brought death. Not to my life, because my faith isn't in people, my faith is in God.

But I've seen the effect it's had on the lives of people around them. I can tell you specific people who don't want anything to do with Jesus or the church, or anything, conservative Christian, or any other thing, because of the tasteless salt that they experienced in their lives. Now, when we finish talking about the light, I'm going to talk to you about the fact that there's redemption for that kind of thing. And that Jesus is bigger, and I can tell you how we can remain full of salt instead of mixed with the impurities of the world.

But the message is clear to us, and the question should be clear in your mind. What kind of salt am I being to the world that's around me? He goes on from there. To discuss light. He says, you are the light of the world. Now, light also is a very interesting thing. Light does a handful of things for us. First of all, light dispels darkness, right? That's like the most common thing that we know of with light.

When I showed up here first thing this morning, I unlocked that side door, and I came in, the entire room was dark. So you know what I did? The first thing I did is I went over to the sound booth and I clicked the lights on. You know what happened the moment that the lights clicked on? The darkness was gone. Why? Because the light dispelled the darkness. The two cannot exist together.

Light automatically does away with darkness. That's why when God created the heavens and the earth, He did not have to create darkness because darkness is not an entity in and of itself. Darkness is the absence of light. Now, what did God create? Light. And it dispelled all of the darkness. And that's what light does in any room that you walk into. But not only does light dispel the darkness,

light protects. Light protects us from the things that are around us. Light protects us from the things that might harm us. Let me give you a short illustration from the life of Ryan, the klutzy guy. Okay? So there I was. It was late at night, and I was up late studying or something, reading, watching TV, no doubt watching a game. I wasn't doing anything productive, I feel confident.

And so everybody else had gone to bed, and I turned off all the lights. And it's always my goal, ever since I worked at Prairie View Christian Camp, to try to find my way around in the dark. I don't know why. It's a weird guy thing of mine. And so I turn off all the lights, and I walk down the hallway to the bathroom. I go into the bathroom, turn the light on, brush my teeth,

take care of everything I need to before bed. I turn the light off, and I realize, shoot, I left my phone in the living room. I've got to go back and get my phone. Well, when you first walk out of the bathroom in our old house, there is a wall right here, so you have to do a quick right and then a quick left in order to make it down the hallway. And so knowing that and being someone who can do that,

and being someone who doesn't want to turn the lights on to wake anybody up and feels confident I can find my way around in the dark, I walk out the door, and I make a quick right just not far enough. And so I make a quick left directly into the wall, and I hit myself right here. And it puts a good little cut right here, and it bleeds. And, you know, that's just what my head does.

Now, there is one young lady that was one of my students who every time I hit my head and cut it open, which happened a lot, she would say, Mr. Nichols, yes, what'd you do to your head? And I would then have to tell the story about what happened to my head. But you see, if the light had been on, I would have looked and said, there's a wall, I should not run into that wall, because light protects us.

Not only does light dispel darkness, it protects us, but it guides us. When we see the light, we know that's the direction we should go because that's the place of safety and protection. That must be the direction I'm supposed to go. Light is also a light. It's so important for life. As a matter of fact, plants will not grow without light. I took a turf class a long time ago,

and they showed us a lot of interesting things about the growth of turf grass and how important it is to have light. And there was a stadium, I think it was in Spain, that tried to have a real grass surface inside of a dome. Well, it didn't have enough real light in order to grow the grass. So what they did is they actually created a tray out of concrete that was the entire, where they built the field, and they would slide this tray out during the week when they weren't playing so that it would get real light, and they would slide the entire field back under the stadium when they got ready to play.

You know why? Because the grass had to have light. Because in order for there to be growth, there has to be light. I remember picking up a log one time, and there was a long piece of grass that had done this. It started growing in the middle of the log, but it pursued the light because it chased after it, because that's what it needed for growth. Now I want you to think about this.

Jesus says, You are the light of the world. Now again, as disciples of Jesus Christ, if we are the light of the world, what is our effect on the world that is around us? He says, You are the light, so what do we do? We should be dispelling darkness. How do we dispel darkness? By displaying the truth of Jesus to the world that is around us. My concern right now is that we've stopped dispelling the darkness.

We've stopped pushing the darkness out because we're afraid, what if they don't like the light? And like I said a couple of weeks ago, we just need to understand, they're not going to like the light. You ever walked into a room that's got some bugs, and you flip the light on, what do all the bugs do? They all scurry. Why? Because they don't like the light. Because that's what the truth does, it dispels the darkness.

And as believers in Jesus Christ, the truth of God's word through our lives should be dispelling the darkness. Not only that, our lives should be a protection for the people that are around us. How so? Because my job is to let people know about the pitfalls. I want to remind you of what Ezekiel was told in the book of Ezekiel. God told him, Ezekiel, you are a watchman on the wall.

That's what I'm making you right now. Here's the job of the watchman. The job of the watchman is to pay attention to when danger comes. And when danger comes, you need to warn the people in the city. If the people in the city take action, their lives will be saved because you are a watchman on the wall and they listened. If the people do not take action, even though you've given them a warning,

their blood is not on your head because you did your job of warning them. He said, but Ezekiel, if you don't do your job as the watchman on the wall, if you see danger coming and you don't warn the people of the danger that's coming and they can't take action because they're not aware of the danger, then their blood will be required of you. You see, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, we know the danger that the world is facing right now. And our lives should be dispelling the darkness and pointing out the dangers that people are facing in order to protect them.

Have you ever thought about you revealing sin in someone's life, not to condemn them, but instead to protect them, to protect them from those pitfalls, to protect them from those dangers? I think that that perhaps should give us a little different view of the way that we present truth, not so that we can win an argument, but so that we can protect against the pitfalls. And then, of course, as believers in Jesus Christ, our light should be guiding people to the one true light, which is Jesus Christ. And of course, as believers in Jesus Christ, we play an important role in the world.

And, friend, you play an important role in the body of Christ, because the way you shine light is different than the way everybody else does, and only you can do it that way. You're important to the body of Christ. But I also was thinking about this light, and I thought, you know, it's kind of interesting, because if you go to the book of John, you'll see what does Jesus declare about himself. He says, I am the light of the world.

And so you should ask yourself, wait, if Jesus declares himself to be the light of the world, but here he calls me the light of the world, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, what is he talking about? How can we both be the light of the world? Well, I'm going to share with you the same thing I shared on Wednesday night when we talked about Moses' face shining. You see, Jesus is like the sun.

He is the light, the great light. We are like the moon. The only reason that the moon has any kind of light is because it absorbs the light from the sun, and then it gives off what it has absorbed from the light of the sun. Your life is meant to reflect the one true light of Jesus Christ. It's not that you have it in yourself, and if you try to have it in yourself, you won't.

The only way you can have that light in you is if it is the reflection of Jesus Christ at work in your life. He then tells us a couple of things about light. Number one, he says you can't hide the light. Notice what he says. He says, you are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand,

and it gives light to all who are in the house. He gives two illustrations of how light cannot and should not be hidden. First of all, it cannot be hidden because we're like a city on a hill, and a city on a hill can't be hidden. I don't know if you've ever driven anywhere at night. I don't particularly enjoy night driving because I get really sleepy, but every now and then I have to drive at night,

and when I do, it's interesting to drive through the country here in Kansas, and you can see the city from a long ways away, and you're like, yep, there it is. Or perhaps now, we can see all of the lights flashing off of all of the windmills that are around here. That's kind of a scary thought, isn't it? When you're driving, and you don't realize there's windmills, and you're like, red flashing lights.

What's going on? Are the aliens coming? No, it's the windmills. But you can't hide those because they're shining on a hill, and they're impossible to miss. Your light is going to be impossible to miss. You shouldn't hide it. But then he gives a second illustration about not hiding it. He says, if anyone lights a lamp, he doesn't put it under a basket, right?

This is where we got that fun song that we used to sing as kids. Hide it under a bushel. No, I'm going to let it shine, right? We're not supposed to put it under a basket. No, when you light a lamp in your house, what do you do? You put it somewhere so that it can illuminate the whole house. Why does he give this illustration? Because he knew that not only his 12 disciples,

but all of the disciples that were listening were going to face something. What were they going to face? Well, he told it to us at the end of the day. He told it to the Beatitudes. He said, you're going to face persecution. And what will the temptation be with your light? Your temptation will be to hide your light. Why? Because of what you're going to have to face

when you shine your light in the world. Because of what you're going to have to deal with. Every now and then, do you ever just think to yourself, is today just going to not be a battle? Can today just not be a battle at all? Can today just be a day? And you know what I keep thinking? No. It can't. Today's probably going to be a battle too. Why? Because when you shine the light,

the whole world needs to see it. And when the whole world sees it, you know what's going to come? A battle. But do you know when God shows himself most faithful? In the heat of the battle. He says, don't hide your light. He then goes on to explain to us how our light should shine. He says, let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works

and glorify your Father, who is in heaven. Now, he says, let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and glorify your Father. I want to first of all talk about how our light shines. Because in the same way that you are the salt of the earth, it just depends on which kind of salt you are, the salt that preserves or the salt that destroys.

In the same way, you have to determine what kind of light you're going to be. Because I think that there's a couple of different types of light that we can be. I want to share that with you by giving you an illustration. At one point in time, I used to run at night. Life was busy. Had to get kids to bed. And so the only time I could really go out and run was after dark,

especially in the fall and the winter time. I don't run at night anymore, partly because of this story that I'm about to tell you. But when you run at night, you realize how important light is. Now, there's two types of light that you face when you run at night. One type of light are street lights. And street lights are great because they're well above your head

and they illuminate a very large area. And so you can really see quite a bit with those street lights. The other type of light that you face are headlights. Headlights aren't fun, partly because of what's behind the headlights. The other reason is because they blind you. Well, one day I was running, and it was nighttime. And as I'm running along, the street lights I'm very thankful for

because they're illuminating my way. They're guiding my path. They're protecting me from pitfalls. They're very important to me staying alive out on the road as I'm running in the dark. And as I'm running, I was running down Radio Lane. And as I'm running down Radio Lane, there's a part where the road sits just a little bit higher than the dirt, and then there's a ditch, right?

And so as I'm running, a car comes driving towards me. Now, I tried to wear very light-colored clothing, reflective-type clothing. But what you find is that when people are texting, they don't notice runners or bikers or other cars or anyone else, for that matter. And I think that's important. I think that this person must have been doing that because they come straight at me.

And as they're coming straight at me, you know what's on? Their headlights. You and I can't see anything because of their headlights. And so all I can think is, oh, no, there's a car. I've got to get out of the way, but I can't see the road underneath of me. I can't see the road around me. All I can see is these giant headlights coming right at me. And so I start drifting to the side.

Remember how I said the road's a little uneven with the ground? I took a step, and there was no ground for a second until I went really far down. And when I went really far down, I literally rolled into someone's front yard. And all I could think was, thank God it's dark and there's no lights right here except that person's headlights because somebody would have watched me roll into their front yard.

But you see, as believers in Jesus Christ, we can be one of two types of light. We can either be like street lights that illuminate someone's way, protect them from the dangers that are around them, guide them in the way that they should go and really be pretty important to their life, or we can be headlights. And sometimes as headlights, we shine in people's eyes. And rather than protecting them, we actually are dangerous to them.

How do we end up becoming headlights? Well, I think there's two ways. The first way is we become very legalistic people. And as we shine our light on people, we don't do so in a loving and kind sort of way. We do so in a way that's very legalistic and stringent and quite frankly causes a great deal of condemnation in the lives of people. And as we do so, our light becomes so bright in their eyes

that instead of illuminating the way, we actually cause them to stumble. We actually cause them to fall. That's the first way that we can end up becoming headlights in the lives of people. The second way that we can become headlights in the lives of people is the same way that we can become tasteless with our salt. And that's with the impurities of the world.

Because when our lives become more marked by this world than the truth of Jesus Christ, then we can end up shining a very dangerous light in the eyes of people. That's when people start to think, saying things like, I thought you were a Christian. I didn't know that's how Christians acted. Now, he then goes on to say, let your light so shine before men. Be the right kind of light.

And as your light shines, what will they see? They will see your good works. Listen, it is impossible for people to miss your good works. I had somebody tell me one time, well, your right hand's not supposed to know what your left hand is doing. Nobody should know what kind of good work you do. Listen, if I stop and change something, someone's tired for them,

in the love of Jesus Christ, they can't not know what I'm doing, right? That's called stealing, right? They're gonna think that's weird. There's certain things that you can't prevent people from seeing you doing. And we'll deal with the context of that phrase when we get a little bit further in the Sermon on the Mount. But people are going to see your good works.

There's nothing wrong with that. The question is, who will they see when they see your good works? Because he says, let your light so shine before men that when they see your good works, who will they glorify? They will glorify your Father in heaven. They will look and they will say, praise God for what he's done. I'm so thankful for what he's done. The only way that they're gonna see our good works

and glorify our Father in heaven is if we're a streetlight, not a headlight. And so this is what he tells us that we're supposed to do. Now, of course, I always think to myself, how do we end up being the right salt and the right light? Because I read that and I go, oh Lord, I don't want my salt to become tasteless, right? I want to stay salty, but in a good way,

not in the way people use it today. Like right now, if you say stay salty, they think that means be angry. No, I mean like stay salty in a positive biblical sort of way. And Lord, I don't want to be a headlight. I want to be a streetlight. How can I be that kind of light? How can I be who God wants for me to be? Well, first of all, I must always keep my account short with God.

That means when I see impurities arising, in my life, I need to have him deal with them right away. When I see legalism start to rise up in my life, where I'm starting to be too hard on people, I need that to go away right away. I need to confess it right away. When I start to see my life begin to reflect not the light of Jesus Christ, but the light of the nasty world that's around me, I have to confess that right away.

Because friends, there is redemption and healing in Christ. Because while I know some believers in Jesus Christ that ended up allowing their lives to be very tasteless in their salt, I know some whose lives started losing their saltiness and came back to Jesus. And as they came back to Jesus, they are now one of the greatest examples of what it is to be salt and light in the world. Because there is redemption in Christ.

There is healing in Christ. If you don't believe me, just ask a guy by the name of Simon Peter, who there for just a little bit was losing his saltiness. But Jesus restored him. But the second part of that is, so what do we do? How can we maintain that? I realize we confess what's wrong, but sometimes I struggle with being the right kind of salt. Sometimes I struggle with being the right kind of light.

I really think it all goes back to starting with that very first beatitude. Blessed are the poor in spirit. You see, as I have a true estimation of who I am, as I realize that I am a fallen human being prone to sin, simply a sinner, who is in desperate need of a savior, what does that cause me to find myself constantly linked to? It causes me to find myself constantly linked to my savior.

Because if I am understanding of the fact that in and of myself, I won't be the right kind of salt, in and of myself, I won't be the right kind of light, and quite frankly, I have no light to reflect whatsoever, then I find myself crying out to Jesus. I find myself crying out to my savior saying, Lord, if you don't work, I've got nothing. Father, I need you to overflow me. I need you to fill me.

I need that power of your Holy Spirit. I need to stay connected to you. Because if I'm not connected to you, I have no power source. If I'm not connected to you, I have no flavor. If I'm not connected to you, I'll only bring death to the people that surround me. But Lord, as I'm connected to you, I can be everything that you've called for me to be. Because while apart from him, I can do nothing,

in Christ, I can do all things. And so I remain connected to my savior. You see, I will always take you back to the exact same thing, and that's the entire reason you were put on this earth, to know God. And as you know God, you will be the right kind of salt, and you will be the right kind of light. But it starts with that understanding of who I am apart from him.

It starts with that distinct understanding of who I am apart from the saving, sanctifying knowledge, of Jesus Christ. And so I stay connected to him. And as I stay connected to him, he reminds me of what he's going to tell me next about the law. Notice what Jesus says, verse 17. He says, Don't think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

Jesus begins speaking about the Mosaic law. Now remember, the Mosaic law starts off being given to us in the book of Exodus, revealed more in the book of Leviticus, applied in the book of Deuteronomy. So if you want to understand more about what he's talking about with the Mosaic law, you can read Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. And I know most people go, That is so boring.

It's really not. When you really read the law, and then take into account the fact that Jesus fulfilled that law, I actually think it's the most interesting reading in the Old Testament. Because you start seeing Jesus pulled out in the law, in ways that you've never seen before. And so when he speaks about this Mosaic law, he is speaking about not only the righteous revelation of the holiness of God, but also the revelation of God's righteous standard for us.

And as Jesus begins to speak, he says, I did not come to abolish the law. Why does Jesus take that moment to clarify it? Because Jesus is going to deal with two groups that we identified a few weeks ago, Pharisees and Sadducees, and really even a third group, and that's the scribes. The Pharisees were the ultra conservative religious group at that point in time.

They would be what we would call the legalists. The Sadducees would have been the ultra left religious group at that point in time. We would call them the religious liberals. And on the side of the Pharisees were the scribes, the one who actually copied down the law, experts in the law. And so these guys had taken the law, and they had twisted it to be something

it was never intended to be, either by making it so much harder than it was supposed to be and creating rules that God never intended, or by annulling it and taking away things that God did intend for righteousness like the Sadducees would have done. So when Jesus comes, he is going to take issue not with the law. He's going to challenge not the law. He's going to challenge their interpretation of the law with a lot of his teaching.

And so as he does that work, he wants them to know, I did not come to abolish the law. What did Jesus come to do? He says, I came to fulfill the law. Well, how did Jesus come to fulfill the law? He came to fulfill the law in three ways. Number one, he fulfilled the law with its legal demands. Jesus kept the law. I thought I highlighted that. Look at me go. He kept the law with all of the legal demands.

In other words, Jesus kept the law perfect. He kept the law perfect. He kept the law perfect. He kept the law perfectly. Do you remember when we talked about Jesus going to the temple to be circumcised on the eighth day? I think we talked about that in the book of Matthew after the birth of Jesus. Do you know why that was so important? Because in order for Jesus to have kept the law perfectly,

he even had to keep it perfectly in that way. He kept the law in all of its legal demands. There was no part of it in which he failed. As a matter of fact, when he stood trial, he said, I've done a lot of good works. For which of these are you crucifying? What law did I break? And they couldn't come up with any. They had to fabricate things that he'd done wrong.

He kept the law. He fulfilled the law in all of its legal demands. Number two, he fulfilled the law with its predictive prophecies. He fulfilled the law with all of the predictive prophecies. When you go back into what the law has to say, the law and the prophets, he kept everything that it said about the Savior coming in the very first time. He kept all of those things.

And so he kept all of those predictive prophecies of the law. But then of course, number three, he kept the law with the payment of the penalty. The payment of the penalty. He paid the sacrifice that the law rightfully required. And that's where I think it gets real fascinating to look at books like Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Because when you realize that all of those sacrifices

were fulfilled in him, then you realize just exactly what he did. Just exactly what he did with the law. Because Jesus kept the law. He was the one prophesied by the law. And he paid the penalty that the law rightfully required. And so he went on from there to say, for truly I say to you, verse 18, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law

until all is accomplished. Perhaps some of your translations say jot or tittle, super fun to say, but I won't say that any longer. He says, not one stroke or mark from the law. Now what does he mean by that? Basically he says, there's not one I that won't be dotted. There's not one T that won't be crossed. It would be the difference between an E and an F in our language.

The little mark at the very bottom that makes it an E instead of an F. He said, not even that little part of the law is going to be broken. Why does he say that? Why is this so important that he says those things? Because what does the law do? Well, first of all, the law reveals God's righteousness. The law reveals our sinfulness. And the law reveals the coming Savior.

God had to keep everything with the law, with the Savior that he sent. Because God did not adjust righteousness in order for us to be made right with him. God fulfilled righteousness in order for us to be made right with him. You see, there is a thought process out there, and I talked about this Wednesday night, that God is this really kind grandfather in the sky.

That when we sin, just pretends it doesn't happen. Oh, don't worry, God will forgive that sin. Why? Well, because God's forgiving. But why can God be forgiving? Because while God is a forgiving God, God is also a just God. While God is a God of mercy, God is also a God of wrath. We have to understand that those two things exist, and there is no portion of the law

that God is going to say, I know they broke that, but let's just let that go and pretend it didn't happen. Because that's not who God is. Listen to me. If that's who God is, then he has no right to judge us. If that's who God is, then he cannot be God. But that is who he is. The righteous requirement of the law had to be fulfilled in order for us to be saved.

Which is why Jesus says, not one dot, not one T, not one T being crossed, nothing's going to be broken until the entire thing is fulfilled. Because he didn't relax the standard. He fulfilled the standard. He then goes on from there to say, in verse 19, whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

What does he mean? Well, that word annuls means to deprive of authority. Now pay attention to what this says because this is important. It says if anybody deprives of authority any of these laws and then teaches others to do the same, he's going to be called least in the kingdom of heaven. In other words, if you tell somebody, hey, the law's not important anymore,

you are called least in the kingdom of heaven. Ryan, what does that mean for us? I thought we were New Testament saints living under grace, not the law. Yes, because we have to understand the law is to be obeyed as explained by the life, by the life and teaching of Jesus. For instance, we still must keep the sacrificial system. No, we don't, Ryan. We're under grace.

Yes, we must keep the sacrificial system. But what we must understand is Jesus fulfilled all of the sacrifices. He didn't relax the sacrificial system. He upheld and fulfilled the sacrificial system. And so now we must say, in order for you to be saved, there has to be a sacrifice for sin. God doesn't let just anybody into heaven. He only lets perfect people into heaven.

So how do we become perfect? By believing in the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. You see, all of these things must be kept. Here's the interesting thing to pay attention to about the Ten Commandments. And I think I've brought this up before. You know, there's a real movement right now that we, hey, we just need to not pay attention to the Ten Commandments anymore.

The Ten Commandments are old covenant, not new covenant. There's actual Bible teachers out there saying, really, you shouldn't even be displaying the Ten Commandments. Andy Stanley's one of them. He said, you should not be displaying the Ten Commandments because the Ten Commandments are old covenant. Well, here's the funny thing about the Ten Commandments is the Ten Commandments,

nine of them are confirmed in the New Testament. One of them is fulfilled in the New Testament. To relax any of them, to deprive of authority any of them, is to be called least in the kingdom of heaven. I didn't say it. Jesus did. You say, Ryan, we're not bound by the Sabbath. Yes, you are. But it's not a day anymore. It's a savior. It's finding your rest in Jesus,

not in your works. We're still bound to the Sabbath, but it's been fulfilled in Christ. That's why all of these things are so important because Jesus fulfilled them all. He says, but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. See, that's why I think one of the best things I can do is tell you what the entire Bible has to say

because I don't want to be called least in the kingdom of heaven. I want to be called great in the kingdom of heaven. The only way I know to do that is to be obedient to what God says. He says, teach them, but teach them in their fullness and their full understanding of who they are now in Christ. Those things are fulfilled in Christ. He goes on there to give the last dagger

before he moves into the next section. He says, for I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now, may I say, that may not sound like much to us, but to somebody living in 30 AD, listening to Jesus say, your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, otherwise you can't make it into the kingdom of heaven, their heart would have sunk. They would have thought, then who can make it into the kingdom of heaven?

Because in the minds of every Jewish individual that was standing there listening to the teachings of Jesus, you could not get more perfect than the scribes and the Pharisees. Paul thought it before he was saved. He says, according to the law, I was blameless. A Jew of the Jews, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, an expert in the law. But he missed one thing. It wasn't about what you do

on the outside, it's about what takes place on the inside. Wait, let me rephrase that. It's not only about what you do on the outside, it's also about what you do on the inside. You see, the scribes and the Pharisees did everything perfect as far as the law was considered outwardly, but Jesus was really good at pointing out the fact that though they did everything correct on the outside, on the inside, they were full of dead men's bones.

On the inside, they were simply whitewashed tombs. In other words, there was nothing great on the outside, but on the inside was nothing but death. And what Jesus is about to do now in the rest of Matthew chapter five is he is going to go on and show that all of the things that they said that they were not guilty of outwardly, they were guilty of inwardly. Because sin is not just an action of the hands, it's not just an action of the mouth or of the feet.

It is a heart that causes so many of these things. You see, I can be right on the outside, but the problem is not on the outside then. The problem is then my heart. Because inside of my heart dwells every evil known to man. Inside of your heart dwells every evil known to man. And the only way that I could truly exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees

is if I was not only right on the outside, but if I was right on the inside. And the only way that I can be cleansed of all of those things is by the blood of Jesus Christ. You see, they were perfect in all of their deeds, but they were not perfect in their thoughts and in their motives. And I like to say and I'll say it again because it's what Dennis said the other night.

I thought it was so good. I never thought about putting it this way. He said, only perfect people get to go to heaven. Only perfect people get to go to heaven. I've quoted it a couple weeks ago, but I'll quote it again. It's that verse out of Isaiah that says, the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. For just a moment, I want you to think

about the fact that we don't deserve to be there. I can never be in the presence of God in the presence of a holy God. I have zero hope in and of myself to ever be in the presence of God, to ever make it to heaven because only perfect people get to go to heaven. And I can give you about five seconds to prove that I'm not perfect. Right? All you would have to do

is go, and look inside my motives and you would go, that guy's not perfect. And that's all Jesus had to do in my heart too. Therefore, I find myself going, so what do I do now? You see, that's the purpose of the law. The purpose of the law and the purpose of what Jesus is about to do in Matthew chapter five is to strip us of all of our self-righteousness, to strip us of all of our hope

that's not Jesus, to strip us of all of the things that we would say, but this makes me a pretty good person and go, I'm not a pretty good person. I'm definitely not perfect. There's no way I can make it to heaven. And so what hope do I have? What place do I have to enter into heaven? It requires a perfect savior because that's what Jesus is going to reveal.

He's going to reveal the fact that you'll never be good enough. You'll never be enough to make it into heaven, but you don't have to be because Jesus already is because what does that verse in Isaiah go on to say? Who does he dwell with? Those who are of a humble spirit and a humble and a broken and a contrite heart. You see, when we come to that place and say, Lord,

I have no righteousness in and of myself. I need all of the righteousness that comes from you. Then he allows us into his kingdom, not because he's some happy grandfather who just wants to pretend nothing happened, but because he is a righteous God whose wrath was poured out on Jesus on a cross who bore the sin and bore the penalty that rightly belongs to you and me. And if you're here this morning, if you're watching online this morning and you've been putting your hope in your goodness and you've been putting your hope in your righteousness or your church membership or the Bible that you own or whatever it is, I've got really bad news.

You have to be perfect to make it to heaven and none of us can be perfect. And so what hope do we have? The hope that we have is in Jesus. The hope that we have is in the fact that Jesus loved us enough to come down and live among us so that he could be our Savior. October is a little bit of a difficult month for me. It's not a difficult month for me anymore

because I keep losing friends in October. Pastor Rick died on September the 30th. And so I made a post about him going home to be with Jesus and I'm so happy he's home with Jesus. I want you to understand this. I'm so happy he's home now. I hope he still has that same sweet mustache but I'm happy he's home now. The day that we went up to Johnson County, October 3rd,

a post came up on my Facebook timeline and it was about Chuck Smith going home to be with the Lord on October 3rd of 2013. And you know what I had thought about the day that we got ready to go up to be with the body up there in Johnson County is it was October the 8th of 2017 that I had to stand up here in front of everyone and tell you that Mark wasn't going to fight his battle any longer. And it was a couple of weeks after that that he went home to be with the Lord. But you know what I'm incredibly confident about all those men is?

I'm incredibly confident that they're home with Jesus. But the only reason I'm confident that they're home with Jesus is not because of who they were, not because of the great men that they were, not because they were faithful servants of God, not because they did all of the right things, not because of all the things that people stood up and said at their funerals. The only reason they're home with Jesus is because they had faith in a perfect Savior. And that perfect Savior was enough to cover their sin.

Because of that, I know they're home with Him now. You know what I hope more than anything? I hope those three guys are hanging out together. I hope that they're visiting. I hope Mark's still talking fast. I hope Chuck's still talking slow. And I hope Rick is still brushing coffee out of his mustache. Because that's how I remember those guys. Friends, the only hope

we have in this life is Jesus. And it's reiterated to me over and over and over again. Because life is really hard, but God is really faithful. Amen? Let's all stand. My prayer is that as we continue to see and sense the time gets short, that we as the body of Christ will be prepared. I think that we need to be prepared physically for whatever's coming. But more than anything,

I think we need to be prepared spiritually. Because I think Jesus is coming soon. But I'll remind you of what Jesus is going to tell us when we get towards the end of the book of Matthew. And he starts talking about his soon coming. He says, no man knows the day or the hour, but he also says this, be ready. Be ready. And that's what we, as believers in Jesus Christ,

need to be. Father, we come before you and I thank you for today. Lord, I thank you that we can stand here and praise you in song. Lord, that we can take in your word and that you died in order to give us an opportunity, Lord, to be able to come boldly before your throne. And I thank you for who you are and what you've done for us. And I just pray that you would be

with each one of us as we go out from here. That your word would sink deeply into our hearts and into our minds and into our lives. And that you would transform the very fabric of who we are. And I just thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Christ will last. Jesus you can use. Riches and houses and cars and lands will pass away but my life will stand. Jesus you can use. And soon it's done for Christ will last. Jesus. We say yes. We say yes. You can use. We say yes. We say yes. Lord. We say yes. Lord. And if soon and only what's done for Christ will last. Jesus you can use. Amen. Amen. Amen. Lord help us.

Bless. In Jesus' name. Amen. Have a great week, guys.