An Expositional Study Of The Sermon On The Mount
THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF OUR PRIVILEGES
Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:13-16 (KJV)
Privilege entails responsibility
In every sphere of life, privilege entails responsibility, especially in the spiritual realm. The previous passage suggested how great our blessing is, and now we are taught our corresponding obligation – an obligation primarily to God, but also to others, and what is in His mind, especially to “them that are without.” The multitude is never out of the mind of our Lord. He is instructing His own, too, in order that they may be properly prepared to reach and touch others. He wants His people to constantly bear in mind those who are lost; to always be careful of their speech and behavior – “Walk in wisdom towards them that are without” (Col. 4:5).
Use of ordinary things
For the first time, we here meet what is to become one of the outstanding characteristics of our Lord’s teaching: His use of ordinary common everyday things for the conveyance of the deepest spiritual truths. The salt, light, city; what could be more commonplace, yet how high the teaching they serve. Yes, He used the lowliest objects, as well as the lowliest people. But, let us proceed and see first,
The influence of a Christian life
“Ye are the salt of the earth.” First, note the call for salt – it is corruption. There probably were some in His audience who would quickly grasp what was in His mind. Peter, Andrew, James and John: they were professional fishermen. Down there in that Sea of Galilee, shining in the sun beneath the Mount, they got their fish and made their living. They would come in with their night's catch and pack it for dispatch from Capernaum up to the Jerusalem market. By the way, as we see from 2 Chronicles 33:14 and other passages, in Jerusalem there was a separate “fish-gate.” But these four fishmongers were probably careful to encase their fish in salt, to keep it from going bad on the journey. No doubt, they quickly caught the Master’s allusion. This old world has many corrupt spots, and corruption spreads all around. Leaven is a picture of corruption. Note these two instructions respecting the old sacrifices: “Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven” (Ex. 34:25); and “With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt” (Lev. 2:13). Never leaven; always salt. The conflicting principles: the presence of the leaven of corruption in the world is the reason for the salt of Christian influence; and this world needs it as quickly as possible. When Elisha was called on to heal and sweeten the “naught” (naughty, corrupted) water, we are told that he did it with salt; but note that “he went unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there” (2 Kings 2:21). In national life, in order to stay the stream of corruption, we need to go to the child-like with our salt. In individual life, if are to ensure that the river will flow sweet, we need to begin in childhood with our salt. Do we sometime complain that we live our Christian life in difficult places? Well, why not? We are “salt,” aren’t we? Christians are the very thing for a corrupt world.
The nature of the salt
What shall we say of the nature of salt? “Ye are,” says the Master; not, ye have the salt, or ye give the salt, but “ye are the salt.” We are it; our own personal character. Our sweetening influence will no doubt derive somewhat from what we do and say, but mostly it will come from what we are. If the parent desires to be salt in the home, if the student desires to be salt in the college, if the cashier desires to be salt behind the counter, if the neighbor desires to be salt over the fence – let them learn that it will not be principally by what they say or do (though each of these has its own importance), but by what they are. We should not worry too much if we find we can’t say or do much. Our business is especially to be much: that is the nature of the salt.
The failure of the salt
How sad is our next thought, about the failure of the salt. “If the salt have lost his savour.” Perhaps someone might say, “Pure salt with which we are familiar with today never does lose its savor.” But the Palestine salt, of which the Savior was speaking, was not the pure article we know today, and heavy rains would sometimes completely wash away its “tang,” leaving it a tasteless and insipid thing. In that form, it is literally “good for nothing.” Most things, even if they fail to rise to their primary purpose, can be put to some lower use. Regarding a basket of grapes – their highest office is the refreshment of man. But if they are not up to that standard, they can be turned into wine; and, if they are too sour even for this, they are useful for the manufacturing of vinegar. If this is too high for them, they are often turned into an especially effective fertilizer for the vines. But, savorless salt is just “good for nothing.” How dreadfully possible it is for a Christian to “lose his testimony,” for his experience, witness, and character to deteriorate, for the salt to lose its savor. How tragic to contemplate a Christian life that has lost its keenness; even the world will despise and ridicule such Christianity: it will be “trodden under foot of men.” What sort of salt are we? And now for
The eminence of a Christian life
“A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” No doubt, the visible picture was pointed out to the hearers. Our Lord often used that method of enforcing His message. For example, how vivid it makes His parable when He says, “Behold, a sower” – perhaps He pointed him out on the countryside. It would be like Him to speak from a picture that all could see.
The spiritual reality
The visible picture mentioned above is, of course, only conjecture; but the spiritual reality is not conjectural. The situation of the Christian is exalted, “raised up together and made [to] sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6; emphasis added). In God’s reckoning, obedient faith has identified the Christian with Christ; and now united to Him, while remaining physically on the earth, we spiritually abide in the heavens. Let us pray, “As we believe Thine only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended into the heavens, so may we also in heart and mind so ascend, and with Him continually dwell.” Matthew Henry wrote, “Sinners roll themselves in the dust; sanctified souls sit in heavenly places.” “Set on a hill” is a true description of the Christian’s present position. In a Bible Class on the Sermon on the Mount, William Harrison once said, “By the act of obedient faith, which has united them with Christ, His followers have entered into immortal life. Their true condition will only be manifest in the future, when they have been set free from everything that binds them to this earth; but even now they belong to that invisible world in which Christ dwells. As a Christian, ‘Your life is hid with Christ in God’ (Col. 3:3). A Christian’s life is an exalted position; and, therefore, here is a good question: ‘Is our conduct correspondingly exalted?’ Are we among those mentioned in our first lesson who are satisfied with a low level of life, when all the while we have such a high level of habitation? Is our practice as eminent as our position?”
The actual effect
Let us proceed to the actual effect. It is bound to be seen. Eminent piety is evident piety; it will out. We may be shy, retiring, and nervous about spiritual matters; but do what we will, “a city set on an hill cannot be hid.” It is not that it seeks publicity, but it just can’t help itself. Mark 7:24 tells us of one occasion that the Master, “entered into an house and would have no man know it: but He could not be hid.” One might as well try to hide the sweet scent of a rose as the fragrance of a Christ-indwelt life. A life “hid with Christ” cannot be hid from others. Some lives stand out from others in the community as well as in the Lord’s church. They are not always the most gifted, wealthiest, or the most influential. They are often humble folk; yet, from sheer goodness, eminent holiness, they tower above others around them. They are sure to be landmarks. How often has a traveler, moving in some strange area, lost his way, and eventually found the road by the far-off sight of just such a landmark as “a city set on a hill.” It is so with an outstanding Christian life. Many have lost their way in this sad world of sin and are pitifully groping about, unable to find the road home. A Christian life is meant to be a landmark the lost can follow and find their way to God. Paul says an arresting thing in 1 Thessalonians 1:6, “Ye become followers of us, and of the Lord.” Dare we hope that we are so following Him that if others followed us they too would soon find themselves following Him? Oh, to be such a landmark; it is one of our most urgent responsibilities toward “them that are without.” And now let us listen again to the Master’s teaching about
The radiance of a Christian life
“Ye are the light of the world.” With prevailing darkness and danger all around, the need for light is plainly apparent. In a Bible class, a youngster said, “There are many kinds of darkness in this world; lots of sin and sorrow.” Yes, and he might have added, pain, anxiety and loneliness, and more. What a dark place this old world really is; and what dangers abound. Do we sometimes complain, perhaps to ourselves, that we are saddened to have to live life in such a dark place? Wonder if years ago someone controlling a lighthouse would talk like that? “Why am I stuck out here on this rock, shining this light through the raging storms of the night?” Surely not. As Christians, we are light and have an important job to perform in our dark and dangerous spot. Let us thank God if He has blessed us to shine in difficult circumstances. No doubt, it shows that He trusts us and counts on us. “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15).
The sphere of light
Consider briefly the sphere of light. In verse fifteen our passage says it is “the world.” How wonderful it is that we can shine so far; the teacher busy in Bible School, the elderly lady giving all she can, the earnest soul kneeling in prayer, all sending out “bright beams of light” to Africa, India, China, South America and so many other places. Chapter two also says it is “the house.” The old saying is true – the light that shines the farthest shines brightest near home. This is certainly or should be true spiritually. At least in theory we all recognize how wrong it is to be a “shining light” in public and not be the same at home. “Learn first to show piety at home” (1 Tim. 5:4).
The care of light
Let us now consider the care of light. It is to be put “on a candlestick” – a lamp stand. In other words, to set it in a conspicuous place; it also ministers to its safety. Put on the floor it might easily be kicked over; even carried in the hand it might readily splutter and expire. But the stand will hold it steady and safe. “Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe” (Ps. 119:117); and such care for His light will make for their constant radiance. Its wick will need to be daily steeped in oil. Many have seen a primitive lamp – the little shallow bowl for the oil in which the wick is soaked. To be daily filled with Him, Christians need the gracious oil of the Holy Spirit as Ephesians 5:18 instructs, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Only in this way can we shine as expected. Its wick will from time to time need trimming; a bit cut off, snipped off, to make the dimmed light brighten up again. That cutting in life is never a pleasant experience; but it may become necessary to our radiance. Small or big things may have dimmed our shining: they must go.
The glory of light
Who is to have the glory of light? Certainly, the light that seeks its own glory will very soon be no light at all. Candles are not lit to be looked at, but that something else may be seen. In our case, it is not “something else,” but someone else. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify” – what? Glorify our works?
No. Glorify us? No; “glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Everything a Christian does, says, and is, is to be for His glory, and we are not to take any of it for self – “My glory will I not give to another” (Is. 52:8). The shining of our light is not to say, “Look at me,” but “Look at Him.”
The cost of light
A word should be said concerning the cost of the Light. Shining is not the easy thing it seems; there is always a price to be paid. Wherever there is light, there is sacrifice; it is true of every sort of light, it involves self-consumption, self-giving; whether it is candlelight, oil light, gaslight or electric light. And it is no less true of spiritual light. Speaking of John the Baptist (John 5:35), the Master said, “He was a . . . shining light.” “Yes,” one might say, “that’s what we want to be.” Well, wait a moment; that was not all He said. The complete sentence was: “He was a burning and a shining light.” There can be no shining without burning. John the Baptist himself admitted, “I must decrease” (John 3:30). So when we are told, “Ye are the light of the world,” self-sacrifice is implied; even as when He said of Himself, “I am the Light of the world,” his own unique self-sacrifice was involved. Let us, then, not be surprised if our faithful shining costs us something.
The hiding of light
We now briefly consider hiding the light. Normally speaking, men do not “put it under a bushel;” but spiritually speaking, we often do. Maybe it is the bushel of fear. There was a man named Joseph of Arimathaea, who had been lit by the Lord. Yet, we would not have known that he was a believer because he busheled his light. It is recorded that he was “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). How many Christian’s today are like that; fearing what others might do, or say, or think? Or, maybe it is by the bushel of unconcern. We get a necessary reminder in 2 Corinthians 4:3: “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.” But, too often today the eternal and dreadful implications of that word “lost” have been largely emasculated. Far too many Christians are little moved at the thought of unbelieving sinners hurrying on to a Christ-less eternity. To a great extent, in our polite society and educated circles the word “Hell” is taboo, except as a swear word. Of course, the unfortunate result of all this is that such Christians have little or no real concern for the unsaved and consequently see no reason for letting what meager light they have shine forth. Their bushel is made out of blinkers. Then, there is the bushel of compromise. Without a doubt, one of the saddest cases of compromise in the Bible is that of Lot. He chose wicked Sodom; he pitched his tent toward wicked Sodom; he went right into the midst of wicked Sodom. Yes, he took care not to get mixed up with the foul iniquities of the place; but he would show them that he was not too strait- laced; that he understood human nature, and that he was tolerant and broad-minded. He had a light; but he tactfully screened it, lest if he let it shine he might get their attention and put their backs up. Besides, if they realized that he was not “narrow,” he would be able to gradually draw them upward. So, doubtless with the best of intentions, he hid his light under a bushel. In comparison, would this describe some Christians today? Does compromising with the world really work? Do they more readily listen to a Christian when he is ready to compromise? Does this approach really pay-off? Let Lot answer. The day came when he simply had to speak out for God; and they were “flabbergasted” – “What!” they said, “you talk to us about God?” To them “he seemed as one that mocked” (Gen. 19:14). One more hindrance Let us look at one more hindrance: the bushel of inconsistency. This has often prevented our light from reaching those who needed it. “You are all so inconsistent,” is the charge all too often brought against Christians by unbelievers; and far too frequently it is true. “Your actions speak so loudly that I cannot hear what you say” is another criticism. It is a grave charge. Each of us should search our hearts and life, asking the Holy Spirit to show us if in any sense or in any degree it is true. It would be dreadful in the extreme if any soul were wrecked because of inconsistency in us. Generally speaking, where this fault exists it lies in one point: we are right on the whole but inconsistent in one thing.
Illustration
In one sermon, William Harrison told this story of a shipwreck off the coast of Florida: “A terrible tempest came up in the night, and so fierce was the howling wind that in the lighthouse guarding the dangerous rocky reef, one of the thick panes of the lantern was smashed. The keeper repaired it as best he could in the emergency, lest the whole light should be extinguished. He had no extra glass; but with a sheet of tin he filled the vacant place; making one facet of the lantern blind. At the height of the storm a vessel came into the reach of the lighthouse, and being misled by the absence of the light on that one side, she ran on to the rock and foundered with all hands. The lighthouse was wrong at only one point, but that one-sided inconsistency caused the damage, the tragedy. Luke 9:36 warns us about ‘having no part dark.’ Oh, to be consistent.”
Illustration
Philip P. Bliss was the captain of a fishing ship off the Eastern coast of America. The harbor where he docked his ship was dangerous, filled with deadly rocks. In order to bring any ship safely through the harbor at night, a beacon-light was placed on the tallest, visible hill; and along the shore, a shore-light. The two lights were arranged so that as long as the captain kept the two lights lined up together, he could safely bring his ship through the dangerous rocks to the dock. So, before entering the harbor, a captain would line up the shore light with the beacon-light; then he would turn his ship into the harbor – always keeping the shore-light lined up with the beacon-light, thus missing all the deadly rocks. One stormy night, in 1871, after a long, hard working day, Capt. P. P. Bliss tried to line up the shore-light with the beacon-light, but observed that only the beacon-light was burning – someone had failed to keep the shore-light burning. Eager to get home, Capt. Bliss decided to take a chance and without the help of the shore-light, turned his ship into the rocky harbor. He hit the rocks, losing his ship and all his crew – only he survived. That night he went to his home, closed the blinds and locked the door. For six days he did not come out or see anyone. When he at last came out, he had written:
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy,
From His light-house evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping,
Of the lights along the shore.
Dark the night of sin has settled,
Loud the angry billows roar,
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore.
Trim your feeble lamp, my brother,
Some poor sailor tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost.
Let the lower light be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling sea-man,
You may rescue, you may save.
Summary
How, then, shall a Christian exercise this responsible ministry – shedding forth the radiance of a Christian life; how “shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15)? Perhaps the best answer to that question, that longing, is to go back to the Master’s own words in John 8:12: “I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Why does the moon shine so brilliantly on that clear and bright night? – Because she is followed by the sun. The sun is the light of the world; the moon has light only by keeping her face unswervingly turned toward the sun, and reflecting the sun’s light in the darkness. If the moon deflected her gaze one inch she would immediately cease her shining. There is our secret. He is the light; we follow Him, and keep “looking unto Jesus” (Heb. 12:2). We then catch and reflect His light; and thus, “ye are the light of the world” (cf. Is. 2:5; Eph. 5:8). The salt, the city, the light; they are great responsibilities; but they are also great privileges. May we not fail those needy souls outside; may we not fail Him Who is counting on our loyalty and fidelity.
