Part of the chapter that I wanted to look at was there in verse 19 where the Bible read,
And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this
city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth, but the water is not, and the ground barren.
And he said, Bring me a new cruise, and put salt therein, and they brought it to him.
And he went forth under the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said,
Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters, there shall not be from thence any more death
or barren land.
So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha, which he spake.
The title of the sermon tonight is Salt is Good.
Salt is Good.
Turn, if you would, to Mark chapter 9 in your New Testament.
Flip over to Mark chapter 9.
So you see, this is an interesting chapter.
There's a lot of really cool things going on, and I think sometimes people would skip
over this part of this chapter, because, I mean, you have Elisha taken up in a whirlwind
of heaven.
You have Elisha parting the waters and coming back.
We see the Spirit of God is resting on Elisha, and really the first miracle that he does,
I guess, is crossing these waters.
But then we see the second miracle he does is he takes a cruise, just like a pot or a
jar of salt, and he pours it into the springs of water in this city, where they have no
fruit.
I mean, the ground is just barren.
They're like, Man, it looks really nice here.
You know, it's really cool, but the waters just aren't right.
You know, we're not getting any fruit, the land's barren.
So he takes this salt and he pours it into the waters.
And then God says, I've healed your land, and no more shall it be barren.
And if we look at Mark chapter 9, look there at verse 49.
It's a pretty long chapter.
In verse 49, the Bible says, For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice
shall be salted with salt.
Salt is good, but if the salt have lost its saltiness, wherewith will he season it?
Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
You know, it kind of reminds me of the verse from the Bible says, Great peace have they
which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.
You know, I think when it's talking about salt, there's different things that we can
look at, but salt sometimes I think is representing the Word of God.
And if you have the laws of God and you have the Word of God, you can have peace.
He says, have the salt in yourselves, get that Word of God in yourselves.
And when you think of salt, I think salt is something that everybody, you know, knows
what it is.
I mean, everybody's used salt.
There's a taste in salt.
I looked at it online, just some human definitions of salt, said that salt is essential for life
in general, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes.
The tissues of animals contain larger quantities of salt than do plant tissues.
Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous food seasonings, and salting is an important
method of food preservation.
So we see salt's an important part of our life, it's a part of everyday life, it's essential
for life.
This is not just, this is not the King James Bible, they're saying, you know, salt's important,
you know, even the secular viewpoint.
They say we have to have salt, it keeps everything in balance, you know, it helps with moisture
and different things.
There was another article I saw when it was talking about salt, said salt's sodium chloride,
so that's the chemical composition.
It says most people have heard of Smithfield hams.
These hams can last forever because they are salt cured.
Salt has been used since ancient times, particularly for meat, as a preservative.
The salt enters the tissue and in effect binds the water, inhibiting the bacterium that causes
spoilage.
The salt restricts to tiny concentration and protects food from yeasts and molds.
It draws out moisture and it creates an environment inhospitable to bacteria.
Now if you're paying attention to what this is saying, it's saying when you have the salt
in this ham, you know, it's going to be protected, it's going to be preserved, it's going to
be inhospitable to bacteria, to virus, to disease.
Now what's the spiritual application of that?
I think it's pretty obvious.
When you get the word of God in your heart, when you're filled with God's laws, it's going
to be inhospitable to sin.
I mean it's hard to be filling yourself with this book and be constantly wanting to live
in the world, constantly wanting to be filled with sin.
And we see when you get the salt in you, it's going to be preservative.
It's going to help keep that stuff off you.
It's going to help protect you against those things.
What's going to protect you from sin?
The word of God.
What's going to help protect you from stop sinning?
The fear of God, which you get from reading this book.
And we see salt is good.
Salt is an important thing in our lives.
Go to Luke chapter 14, we're going to see the same thing.
It's interesting how God gives us so many illustrations in the Bible that are like an
earthly example.
That are just things that are common to us, that we see every day.
And He can take that and make a great spiritual application.
He can show us great things from His word, just from a common thing like salt.
I mean salt's something everybody has.
You can't go to someone's house and they don't have salt.
Look at verse 34.
Says salt is good, but if the salt of loss is savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dung hill, but men cast it out.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
So the Bible is saying, look, He's making a spiritual application when He's talking
about salt.
You know, obviously I think salt's good, I mean I like the taste of salt, but that's
not what Jesus Christ is really talking about.
He's saying, he that hath ears, let him hear.
So He wanted to teach you something really important when He was talking about this salt.
So let's back up, let's look at verse 4, let's look at verse 15.
So go up Luke chapter 14 verse 15, see what Jesus was saying.
He said, and when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said
and blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
Then said he unto him, a certain man made a great supper and bade many, and sent a servant
at suppertime to say to them that were bidden, come, for all things are now ready, and they
are with one consent being to make excuse.
The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must need to go and see it.
I pray thee, have me excused.
And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them.
I pray thee, have me excused.
And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
So that servant came and showed this Lord these things.
Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, go out quickly into the streets
and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the hog, and
the blind.
And the servant said, Lord, it is done as the house commanded.
And yet there is room.
And the Lord said unto the servant, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them
to come in, that my house may be filled, for I say unto you that none of those men which
were bidden shall taste of my supper.
So you see, God's talking about, he's talking to his disciples, and he's talking to them
in a parable.
And he's saying, look, imagine me being God and being a servant, and sending, or being
the master of the house, sending out his servant, and trying to bid to the marriage, meaning
coming to marriage supper of the lamb, coming to heaven to be in his kingdom, and the people
that were bid, they didn't want to come.
But he says to the servant, you know what, we're not done here.
No, go out and bite the poor, the blame, the blind, the lame, the maimed, the hog, go bring
them in.
And he gets all of them in.
Then he says, there's more room.
So he goes down to the highways and hedges and compelled them to come in, that his house
may be filled.
So when we see at the bottom, he's talking about that salt, he's talking about being,
you know, the salt is good, right?
He's talking to his disciples, and he's talking about how with that salt, they're going to
go out and they're going to get people saved with the word of God.
They're going to go out and they're going to preach the gospel and they're going to
get people saved.
But he's saying, if the salt's lost his seasoning, if it's lost his saber, how are you going
to go out and get the highways and hedges saved?
How are you going to get these people saved if you don't have the word of God with you,
if you're not seasoned with that salt?
And we're going to look at some other scriptures later that kind of illustrate that point.
But look at verse 25, let's keep going in this chapter.
He says, and there went great multitudes with them and he turned and said unto them, if
any man come to me and hate not his father and his mother and wife and children and brethren
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple and whosoever doth not
bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
For which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost,
whether yet sufficient to finish it, lest happily, after he hath laid the foundation
and is not able to finish it?
All that behold, it began to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to
finish.
Or what king goeth going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first and consulteth
whether he be able with ten thousand men to meet him, that cometh against him with
twenty thousand?
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off and he senteth an impassage and desire
of conditions of peace, so likewise, whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all that
he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Salt is good, but if the salt of loss is savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
So when he's talking about the salt, who's he talking about?
Well, you got to back up, he's talking about the servants that are going out and preaching
the gospel.
They're bidding them to come to the marriage.
He's bidding not just the poor, the blind, the main, everybody.
He's going to the highways and hedges, he's preaching the gospel, then he comes down here
and he says, look, if you're not willing to forsake all your family, you can't be my disciple.
He says, if you're not willing to forsake all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
And look, his assault is good.
So what he's saying, look, it's good to be saved, it's good to be a Christian, but if
the salt loses its saltiness, if it loses its savour, if it loses its seizing, it's
good for nothing.
It's not going to go out there and preach the gospel.
It's not going to go out there and compel people to come in.
He's not going to be a disciple of God and it's going to be worthless.
He's just going to cast it out.
It's good for nothing, according to the bible, it says it's neither fit for the land.
So how is God going to heal the land with bad salt?
I mean, when Elisha had that cruise of salt, he was pouring good salt into those waters
and then God healed the land.
How is America going to get saved?
How is America going to get right with God by the salt?
We need the men to go out and preach the gospel, to go on the highways and the hedges, and
to be his disciple.
To decide, you know what, God's more important than my family, God's more important than
my wife, than my kids, than my brother, than my sister, I'm going to forsake all for the
cause of Christ.
Now, of course, the bible's not teaching that you just have to, oh, I'm just going to leave
my wife and I'm going to leave my kids, I'm going to not care about them.
I mean, obviously, to be a pastor, it says you have to have a wife, you have to have
children, you have to rule well your own house.
But what he's trying to say is in comparison, if you have to make a hard decision between
the two, who are you going to try and please more, God or your wife, God or your family,
God or your children?
Now, of course, to be right with God, you better be taking care of your wife, you better
be taking care of your children, that's part of God's commandments.
But you can't be his disciple if when you're put in a hard situation, you say, oh man,
you know, my wife really doesn't like this, I guess I'm just going to give up, I guess
I'm just going to lose that saltiness, I guess I'm just going to lose that savor.
If you say, oh man, you know, I'm going to lose my relationship with my kids if I follow
Christ, if I go and I preach this way, if I go to this church, if I do these things,
you know, my kid, he wants me to go play golf with me every weekend, but I want to go soul
winning.
What are you going to choose?
Are you going to forsake that relationship?
Now, of course, look, you can have a relationship with your family, you say, hey, son, I want
you to go soul winning with me.
I want you to come to church with me.
I want you to read the Bible with me.
That's what we should be like.
We should say, come see my zeal for the Lord.
But when you're putting the rock in the hard place, when you have to make that decision,
you know, and I think pretty much everybody that wants to live for God, the Bible says
that all that will of God will suffer persecution, right?
I mean, if you're willing to live for God, there's going to be people in your family
that don't.
There's going to be people in your family that wanted to be detractors.
They don't want to, you know, follow with you and you have to make that decision, am
I going to be God's disciple?
What happened, though, in all the Christians?
I mean, being a Christian is great.
I mean, being saved is great, isn't it?
Amen.
People that got saved tonight, people that get saved every week, that's great.
But what if all the Christians stop preaching God's word?
What if we just all quit soul winning?
What if we all quit reading the Bible?
What if we all quit going to church?
It's good for nothing.
We're going to lose this world.
We're not going to have fruit.
It's going to be a barren land.
We need the salt.
Where are we going to get the healing?
Where are you going to get healing without the salt?
The Bible says, pleasant words are as in honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.
You know, you're going to get health in God's word and the Bible is saying, look, it's salt.
You need this salt so that it can be sweet on the soul to be health under your bones.
Turn to Numbers chapter 18, go back to the Old Testament numbers.
So I was given a little bit of a, you know, an introduction.
The first point of the sermon is that salt is a preservative, you know, and I think that's
just really common.
It's really obvious.
I mean, we read two definitions of what the world says and they say it's a really common
preservative.
It's used for meats.
It's used for a lot of different things.
But according to the Bible, salt is a preservative.
And I'll read for you in 2 Chronicles chapter 13, this really interesting wording I think
that the Bible says, but in verse 3 it says, in Abijah, set the battle on array with an
army of valiant men of war, even 400,000 chosen men.
Jeroboam also set the battle on array against him with 800,000 chosen men, being mighty
men of valor.
And Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemarim, which is in Mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou
Jeroboam and all Israel, ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom
over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt.
So the Bible uses this phrase, covenant of salt, and at first I was kind of like, what
does that mean?
What does he say like a covenant of salt?
Like they maybe got some salt together, I mean, what does he say?
He's just saying, look, he gave the kingdom to David forever.
Now what is salt?
It's a preservative.
So he's saying, look, it's a covenant of salt in the way that he preserved them.
He's going to always preserve the kingdom of David through who?
Jesus Christ, right?
I mean, we see that all of David's descendants rolled on the throne all the way to Jesus
Christ, who will rule and reign forever, an eternal kingdom.
So he's saying a covenant of salt, meaning, look, it's going to last forever.
It's going to be preservative, even though this said, look, when you salt that ham, it
lasts forever.
Look at Numbers 18, verse 19, and all the heave offerings of the holy things which the
children of Israel offer unto the Lord have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters
with thee, by a statute forever, it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord unto
thee and thy seed with thee.
So again, when he was talking to the priest, he was saying, look, I'm going to make a covenant
with you and it's going to be forever.
It's going to be a covenant of salt.
And so that's a really interesting phrase in the Bible, but he's just saying he's going
to be preserved.
He's going to preserve them.
He's going to keep them forever.
And salt is going to preserve this world.
Salt is going to preserve this place.
Turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 7, 2 Chronicles chapter 7.
I'll read for you.
In Proverbs chapter 14, the Bible says, in the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride,
but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
So the Bible says, look, a foolish person, the things that come out of his mouth, the
pride, it's going to be a rod to his back.
It's not going to be beneficial to him.
People think that, oh, I got to talk about how great I am.
It's just going to be a rod.
It's never going to help you.
And the Bible says, the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
Think about getting that salt inside you and those words coming out, that's going to preserve
you.
Getting that salt, getting the Word of God.
Proverbs chapter 2 says, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee.
This Bible is what's going to preserve your life.
This Bible is going to keep your life.
This Bible is going to keep you on the right track.
The Word of God, you've got to get that salt in your life so it will preserve you.
But just not you, I mean, we don't just care about you, we care about everybody.
Preach to the Gospel of the whole world.
How are you going to save the world?
They've got to get this salt.
And it's interesting when you think about the first time that salt was mentioned in
the Bible, God was looking at a city, a very wicked city, and he was debating whether or
not he was going to destroy it, and he said, look, if there's 50 righteous people, I won't
destroy the city.
Isn't that interesting that a Christian, a man of God, the salt is going to preserve
this city.
I mean, just think about that.
What's going to preserve God from destroying America?
Salt.
What's going to destroy it?
Christians on fire for God, living for him.
That's what's going to preserve this world.
He went all the way down to 10 people.
He said, look, if there was even just 10 people in this city, the city of Sodom and Gomorrah,
he said, I would preserve it.
But you know, there was a 10.
And when Lot and his wife left, it's interesting, she turned back because she didn't want to
live for God.
And guess what she became?
A pillar of salt.
Isn't that ironic?
Isn't that ironic that salt's going to preserve this city and she's not willing to do it and
then she turns back, she just becomes a pillar of salt.
Now I don't think it was the good salt.
It was the one that was good for nothing, that would just be cast out.
So now they're fit for the land.
We see, I'll read you one other place, it says in Matthew 11, And now Capernaum, which
art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell.
For if the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained unto this day.
Look, even Sodom at some point, even though they were so wicked, if somebody had gone
there and just been preaching the Word of God, had been doing wonderful works, they
could have repented and been right.
It could have remained unto this day.
It could have been preserved.
But why wasn't it preserved?
It didn't have any salt.
It just didn't have anybody there to preach the Word of God.
There was no salt coming out.
You see, when law was talking to the people and he was condemning them, they were like,
he must need to be a judge.
It kind of seemed to imply that he was never really judging them before that.
Because this was the first time he was going to give them any kind of judgment.
Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 7, where I had to turn.
Look at verse 14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
It's a very famous verse, but the very end of it says he'll heal their land.
Look, the salt healed the land.
God makes it very clear.
It's so consistent through the Bible.
You want to heal this land?
You want to heal this country?
You want to heal this city?
You want to heal your family?
It's got to be a salt.
You got to get that salt in your life.
You got to get this word of God.
You got to be salty.
You got to have good seasoning.
The Bible says, Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall
lose his life shall preserve it.
Look, just lose your life into this book.
Just say, I don't care about my desires.
I don't care about what, you know, I want to do this great thing.
Just give that up and go for God and you'll preserve it.
How are you going to preserve your life with salt?
By doing God's word.
By living and following his commandments.
That's how you're going to preserve your life.
You're not going to do it by trying to keep it.
You know, it's interesting, people even take salt and they put it on the sidewalk, you
know, when it snows outside or it rains.
Why do they do that?
It's so people won't fall, right?
Go to Psalms chapter 12.
I'll read for you in 1 Timothy 6.
The they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
We see that a lot of people are falling into sin.
Well, how are you going to stop them from falling?
By being the salt to them.
If you say, for the love of money, or you say the love of money is the root of all evil,
if you've gotten to preach the word of God, if you're giving them some salt, you can help
them not stumble.
Now, of course, if somebody just really wants to fall, they're going to fall.
I mean, you can't just protect everybody, but at least if you got a little bit of salt
on the sidewalk, it might help some people get right with God.
So they won't fall into temptation, they won't fall into a snare.
Look at Psalms chapter 12.
Let's read this whole chapter, I like this chapter.
Help Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children
of men.
They speak vanity, every one, with his neighbor, with flattering lips and with a double heart.
Do they speak?
The Lord shall cut up all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh throughout things,
who have said, with our tongue we will prevail, our lips are our own.
Who is Lord over us?
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the
Lord, I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven
times.
Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.
The wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted.
We see that God's always going to preserve his word, this is the ultimate salt right
here, and if you want to preserve your life, you got to get it.
But we see when the godly man ceases, when the word of God is not being preached, the
vilest men walk on every side.
We see that that's so true in America, we see why is our country falling apart, why
do we have so many wicked leaders, why do we have the wicked literally walking on every
side?
Because this word of God is not being preached, because we don't have enough salt, because
we don't have anybody going out and preaching the word of God with boldness, we don't have
enough salt in this world, we need more salt.
So the first point is salt is going to preserve us, salt is going to preserve our church,
salt is going to preserve our city, salt is going to preserve our nation, salt is going
to preserve the world even.
Think about the rapture, why is it that God waits to pour out his wrath?
Because he's got to get all the salt out first, he's got to get all the Christians out, he's
going to rapture the Christians, then he's going to pour out his wrath, because there's
nothing preserving it anymore, it's all gone.
The second point is that salt is a seasoning, and when we think about salt it's pretty obvious
right, I mean it's something you use to season your food, you put it on food, we need the
word of God to be, you know, we need the word of God so we can be effectively seasoned,
so that we can have the right taste.
Go to Colossians chapter 4, Colossians chapter 4, the Bible says in Proverbs 15, says a man
hath joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good is it?
I mean the words of God are so good, a word spoken in due season, he said man when you're
just struggling, when you're down on your luck, maybe you're going through some persecution,
and then that one verse just comes to mind, or someone just gives you that one good Bible
verse and it just clicks, it's just so, how good is it when you have the word of God?
The Bible says the heart of the righteous studieth to answer, but the mouth of the wicked
poureth out evil things.
We need to study this word so we can have our salt be really salty, so it can be really
seasoned really well.
Look at Colossians chapter 4 verse 6, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned
with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man.
He's saying look, how are you going to know how to answer every man?
How are you going to speak right when you're talking to people?
It's got to be seasoned with salt, it's got to be seasoned with this Bible.
I love hearing people when they just talk and this Bible is just coming out.
I mean when you go out soul winning, the best soul winners are the ones where it's just
Bible coming out.
I mean it's just verse after verse, they're comparing spiritual with spiritual and it's
just coming all together, it's just seasoned with salt.
It's got so much flavor, it's got so much savor, it's got so much of a bite and you
know good salt, you always taste it.
You never like have bad, I mean if you have really good salt, you can't put it in anything
and not taste it.
I mean it's just, think about like a huge glass of water and you just put a little bit
of salt, I mean you're going to taste that.
It's got some savor to it right?
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 2, I'll read for you a couple more verses.
It says that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, that thou mightest
answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee.
Look, we've got to have the words of truth, that's how we're going to answer people.
We need the salt.
Salt is good, but if the salt of loss is savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
The Bible is saying look, if you're saved but then you're not getting seasoned with
this book, how are you going to get any seasoning?
I mean if you lose your savor, if you lose your fervor for God, if you're not excited
about the things of God, you get out of church, how are you going to get, and you don't want
to read this book, how are you ever going to get seasoned?
How are you ever going to get right with God?
How are you ever going to do good things with God?
No, you need this book, you need these things, this is how you're going to get your seasoning,
this is how you're going to get your taste, this is how you're going to get your savor.
Says in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, for we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, and them
that are saved, and them that perish.
Look we are a sweet savor unto God when we're living for Him, when we're doing the good
things.
Think about good salt, I mean it has a good savor unto God.
Says and them that are saved, the Bible makes it very clear that if we want God to be pleased
with us, we have to follow His commandments, it says if you love me, keep my commandments.
So we think about good salt, but you know, having a lot of good salt, let's say you had
a packet of salt and you were eating with your dinner, ok, and you had a certain amount,
and you had this big plate of food.
Now when you have the salt and you're going to put it on your food, you just want to put
it all in one little spot, you got some meat, you got some potatoes, you got some vegetables,
you got this salt, and you're like, I'm just going to pour it all on the meat, I mean I'm
just going to like, just load it up with all the salt.
Now is that going to be the best thing, or do you kind of want the salt to be evenly
distributed?
Or maybe think you have a plate of vegetables, and you just like to put it all on one of
the vegetables, instead of kind of like mixed all in or whatever, I mean you kind of want
it to be spread, you kind of want it to be distributed, why?
So that you can get it on everything, so that everything can have that savor, everything
can have that taste, just like the Bible.
I mean, just think about a Christian who decides, you know what, I'm just going to be about
King James only.
That's the only thing I care about, I'm only going to study that issue, that's the only
thing I care about.
I mean, are they going to be the most effective Christians?
Are they going to be, you know, pleasing God the best that they possibly can?
No, God wants us to be evenly distributed across the Bible, right?
He wants to have a good savor in all things.
He wants us to not just be King James only, or not just be prophecy, or not just be soul
winning.
He wants the whole Bible.
He wants all of it.
He wants you to, you know, get every single piece of this book into your heart.
He wants you to be well distributed, you know, even that of the world.
Think about the Faithful Word Baptist Church, Pastor Anderson makes it very clear that he
doesn't want to build some great big temple and just have everybody come into him and
just try to make Jerusalem on earth, no, he wants to send people out.
He wants the people to go into other cities, to go to other nations, to go to all kinds
of places in the world.
He wants to spread his salt.
He wants to get the salt in the whole world so that we can get more people saved.
So that we can preserve more people, so that we can get more of the Savior of God to more
places.
You know, you think about putting salt, good seasoning, you'll always notice it.
I mean, so many times when you talk about seasonings, I don't know if you've ever heard
anything about seasonings, the way seasonings are measured or their value is based on how
much seasoning they really have.
You can just put like a little dash of it and it's going to be much more than something
you have to put a lot.
I mean, you think about spices like cayenne pepper or you think about just pepper itself
or salt or garlic, any of these things.
If you can put just a little bit of dash and it has more potency, more flavor, it's considered
more valuable.
And so that's the same with salt.
With our salt, we need to be able to notice it, we need to be able to see it.
And think about, I have this time when I was growing up where I would like get up in the
middle of the night and I would just wander to the fridge, I'd be like so thirsty.
I'd like wake up and my throat was like so dry and it was like hurting almost.
I was like, I have to go get a drink of water, get a drink of something.
And so I like stumbled in and I opened up the fridge and I saw like a half drinking
Coke.
And now I don't usually like to drink Coke when I'm really thirsty, but I was just so
thirsty, it was the only thing I saw and I was like, I'll just take a swig of this.
You know, and it wasn't mine.
I didn't know whose it was, but so I just grabbed this Coke bottle and I take a big
ol' swig of it and then I just spew it everywhere.
I like almost vomit because what had happened is my dad loves to put peanuts in his Coke.
He would put all these peanuts in his Coke and then he'd drink the Coke and eat the peanuts
out.
But what happens is all that salt on those peanuts gets dissolved in that Coke and it
tastes awful.
I mean, it tastes horrible.
And so I just, unsuspecting, just take this big Coke bottle and just like, ugh.
But I immediately noticed it.
I mean, I wasn't like confused.
I was like, wow, that's disgusting.
But you know, even like my grandfather, he likes to eat watermelon.
You know, he grows to you.
He lives in Kentucky, loves to eat watermelon.
And I remember he likes to salt his watermelons.
I mean, that is the worst thing in the world.
I mean, I get a big piece of watermelon and I'm like, it tastes so good, I got the sugar
and then I take a big ol' bite and I'm like, ew, what is this, why are you putting salt
on the watermelon?
But you know, the interesting thing is you couldn't see it.
I mean, I walked up unsuspecting and I said, hey, what is this?
But then I took a big ol' bite out of it and I knew exactly what was happening.
And I think that was the Christians in the day.
I mean, we're supposed to be in the world, we're not supposed to be of the world.
I mean, you can't just look at somebody and know, oh, this guy's a man, you know, man
of God.
He's on fire.
He's wearing a dress and he's got his collar on backward.
He's got a big cross and he's just saying, hallelujah, hallelujah, what can I say?
That's not how we know.
I mean, you know, a man of God by what comes out of his mouth, his saltiness.
That's how you can see a man of God following God's commandments.
You know, even salt can sometimes be irritating, right?
I mean, it's sometimes I think about the illustration of putting some salt in some water.
Now sometimes you maybe get sick, maybe you get a sore throat.
You know, I've gotten a sore throat and I took a big glass of water and I put a bunch
of salt in it and I would gargle and it'd actually give a lot of relief.
But I'll tell you, I hated every second of it.
I mean, it was awful.
And the same thing is sometimes with God's word.
Sometimes when you have God's word pounding down on the sin in your life, it hurts.
It's uncomfortable.
It's irritating.
You don't like it, but it's good for you.
It's going to bring healing into your life.
And who would have thought that putting salt in water would bring healing?
Oh yeah, that was the Bible.
Oh yeah, that was Elisha by the word of God.
He put salt in the waters and about healing under the land.
How many people today put salt in the water for healing today?
But that brings me to my third point.
Why are we needing the healing?
Why are we needing to add the salt to the water?
Third point is that salt will help bring forth fruit.
The whole point of this is to bring forth fruit.
We need the salt to bring forth fruit.
And I read online again another article I was kind of looking about, talking about salt.
It says that why Epsom salt works in the garden.
It says composed almost exclusively of magnesium sulfate, Epsom salt is intensely rich in these
two minerals, which are both crucial to healthy plant life.
These same minerals, which are so beneficial for bathing and household tasks, are also
great for your garden, helping it reach its fullest potential and creating a lush and
vibrant outdoor space.
Unlike common fertilizers, Epsom salt does not build up in the soil over time, which
makes it safer than using chemical soil supplements.
So even in the world today, salt is such a great example from the Bible because it's
so true.
I mean it's even used in gardening, it's used in people that produce crops and farming and
all kinds of things.
And a lot of times people when they're testing soil, they test how much saltiness it has
or what kind of levels it has and it determines how healthy the soil is.
You know for certain crops it might need more salt and other crops it might need less
salt depending on how much moisture that type of crop needs to be really fruitful.
I think God knows how much salt we need in our lives to be fruitful, how much salt's
going to help us.
But go to Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 5, I think this will kind of tie in a lot
of the points that we've been looking at, a lot of things that the Bible's been saying
about salt.
Because the Bible says that salt is good.
Salt is good.
In Matthew 5 verse 1, and saying the multitudes he went into the mountain and when he was
said his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth and he taught them saying, blessed
are the poor in spirit for theirs are the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they with due hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of
evil against you falsely for my sake.
Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they
the prophets which were before you.
Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be
salted?
It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of
men.
Ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do
men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick and giveth light unto
all that are in his house.
Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father
which is in heaven.
So Jesus kind of brings it all together.
He says guess what?
Ye are the salt of the earth.
Who's the salt?
His disciples.
Notice who he's talking to at the beginning.
He wasn't talking to everybody.
He wasn't talking to every person that's saved.
He's saying look, you guys, you're going to be the salt of the earth.
You're going to be the ones that go out and preserve this earth.
You're going to be the ones that preserve souls from hell.
You're going to be the ones that are the seasoning, the ones that are helping people not fall,
the people that get the good taste of God in their mouth, that hear the word of God
with truth, with grace.
When they speak, it's seasoned with salt.
Look, he's given them a lot of instructions.
Blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor in spirit.
They're going to have great seasoning of salt in their mouths.
And he says salt is the same as being here the light of the world.
Look, you've got to go out and preach the gospel.
Some guy that's super zealous, he's just on fire.
He's so excited, but he doesn't have any Bible.
He's never been salted.
He's never gotten the word of God in his heart.
He doesn't know any of the scriptures.
He doesn't know where to turn.
How good is he going to be?
If the salt he lost is saved, it's good for nothing.
I mean, you can be super excited, and that's great.
That's wonderful.
And when someone first gets saved, of course,
they don't necessarily know anything.
They got to start learning and growing.
But as you start to get more Bible in your life,
as you start to get more salt in your life,
you're going to be more effective.
You're going to be more efficient.
You're going to be better at going out
and preaching the gospel.
You're going to be a better light.
You're going to have more seasoning, more savor.
Turn if you would to Mark chapter 4.
Mark chapter 4.
The Bible says faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
We need the salt out there preaching the word of God
so somebody can get saved, so we can preserve this world,
so that we can get right with God,
so that we can do big things for God.
But how are they going to hear without a preacher?
How are they going to get that healing without the salt?
If you're the salt and they need it for healing,
how are they going to get it if you don't go?
You have a decision in your life today.
Hey, you're important.
You're the salt of the earth.
You're the ones that's going to preserve people.
You're the ones that's going to preserve this world.
You're the one that's preserving God's wrath
and judgment on the people.
Aaron stood in front of God for the children of Israel.
He says, an ancestor.
You have that ability.
You have that privilege and the responsibility
to be the salt of the earth.
You say, all my life's not that important.
I just go to this job, I just do this thing.
No, you can be the salt of the earth.
You have purpose.
You have meaning.
God's withholding his wrath because of what you're doing.
If you go out and preach the gospel,
if you're getting people saved,
if you're following his commandments,
you are the salt of the earth.
You're the one bringing the healing.
You're the one preserving this world.
It's so important.
We see in Mark chapter four, look at verse 14.
The sower soweth the word,
and these are they by the wayside,
where the word is sown,
but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately,
and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
And these are they likewise,
which are sown on stony ground,
who when they have heard the word,
immediately received it with gladness,
and they have no root in themselves,
and so endured but for a time,
afterward when affliction and persecution
arises for the word's sake,
immediately they are offended.
And these are they which are sown among thorns,
such as hear the word,
and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches,
and the lust of other things entering in,
choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
And these are they which are sown on good ground,
such as hear the word and receive it,
and bring forth fruit,
some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.
Now it's interesting,
God's talking about sowing the word,
sowing the seed,
and there's so many parallels of what the Bible is,
there's so many parallels of the earthly things
and God making them spiritual things.
But look at verse 20.
He says, and these are they which are sown on good ground.
It's interesting that he says good ground.
Now how do you get the good ground?
How did Elisha get the good ground?
He put the salt in the water,
and then there was good ground.
Then it became fruitful.
Think about somebody out in this world.
They need you, they need the salt to go out
and help get that soil nice and fertile.
Get that soil ready for that word of God
so that when they get it,
they can become a soul winner.
How are you gonna get more soul winners?
By having good salt.
You know, if someone goes out there
and they stumble around,
they know the Bible well enough just to get the person saved
but they weren't really that excited,
they weren't really that enthusiastic,
they didn't have much savor,
maybe that person's not gonna really wanna get in church.
Maybe that person doesn't wanna come and get baptized.
But when the person's just on fire for God
and everything that's coming out of their mouth
just sees them with so much salt
and this person takes a bite of the word of God,
they taste it and say,
I've never tasted anything like that.
And they wanna become a soul winner.
They get that good ground.
We see that the good ground is those that receive it.
They really get excited.
And then they can bring forth fruit.
I mean, I can't think of anything more exciting
than if I get somebody saved
that then wants to become a soul winner,
that then wants to get in church,
that then wants to go out and produce more fruit.
That's how we're gonna do it.
You need the salt though.
You need it to be really salty.
You need to have a lot of, be seasoned really well.
And we need some soul winners with some salt.
You know, just because you're going out
and preaching the gospel,
I mean, you gotta have some saltiness,
a little bit, but why don't you decide to get more seasoned?
Why don't you get some more salt in your life
so then you can produce better fruit?
I mean, not all fruit's the same.
Some fruit's, you know, really big and juicy and great.
Some fruit's just kinda, eh.
I mean, you ever take a bite of like an apple or something,
or like a mealy apple, and you're just like, eh.
I mean, it's still fruit, I mean, you know,
and I bet there's a lot of people that we've won to Christ
that's probably not very good fruit.
I mean, it probably wouldn't taste that great.
But at least they're going to heaven, man.
I mean, right?
But don't we wanna produce good fruit?
We gotta get some good soil.
So we gotta get some salt out there.
We gotta get the word of God out there.
We gotta be seasoned really well.
So how does this apply to your life?
I mean, we're, as salt, gonna preserve
the souls of this world.
We're gonna preserve our city.
We're gonna preserve this world.
We see, when we're seasoned, we can give better answers.
We can give great answers.
We can give answers that, you know,
are filled with this Bible.
We can be well-grounded.
And as God said, we can be a sweet saver unto Him.
You know, why do you wanna be seasoned with salt
so you can be a sweet saver?
God wants us to be a saver.
I mean, He's not like eating us.
But I mean, you think about this,
why do you put salt on your food?
Because it tastes good.
Because you want that good sensation.
And lastly, He wants the fruit.
He wants us to make other soul winners.
But I think, you know, the only way
you're gonna get that good ground is with the salt.
But you know, there's a lot of places
in the United States that are barren.
There's a lot of places in the United States
where there's not any fruit being produced.
What do they need?
They need some salt.
They need somebody to get really on fire for God.
And they need the salt to be distributed.
They need the salt to go into every city,
to go into every town, into every village,
into every nation.
And we need the salt to go forth
and to bring forth more fruit.
You say, oh man, this city's not bringing forth any fruit.
What does it need?
It needs some salt.
Jesus said, ye are the salt of the earth.
Is there any city that's gonna get saved
or do great things for God if no salt goes there?
If no man of God goes there,
if no soul winners go there, no.
It needs some salt.
That's why we need a man of God in every city.
And he said, why in the world
do you wanna be a pastor someday?
You know, honestly, when I think about it,
I don't know, there was definitely times
when I grew up and I thought it'd be cool to be a pastor.
That's a really awesome job.
I honestly thought it was the most important job
in the world.
But I didn't really necessarily think too much of it.
I thought a lot about being a professional athlete
or being a movie star.
You know, I had a lot of ideas as a kid, right?
I mean, you have lots of ideas.
You don't really know what you wanna do.
But then when I really started getting serious
about the word of God, when I started, you know,
really paying attention to what people were saying,
what the Bible said, you know,
trying to really research God,
I saw there's just a lack.
I mean, there's just not very many people going out
preaching the word of God.
There's not a good church in every city.
I mean, the city that I was going to
had like 200,000 people in it.
And there was no salt in that city.
It was barren.
There was no one going out preaching the gospel.
You know, all I wanted to do was just find some church
that I could be a blessing to,
that I could just serve at, that I could go out sowing.
And I think there's a lot of people like that.
I think there's a lot of people in this nation
and in this world, they want to do the right thing.
They want to get on fire for God.
They want a man of God that they can follow,
someone that'll teach them the Bible,
someone that'll teach them sowing,
someone that'll teach them how to do the right thing.
But they don't have it.
That's why we need more salt in this world.
Maybe that's your calling in this world.
You say, I don't know what my life's like.
I don't know what I want to do with my life.
Why don't you decide to be some salt somewhere?
Why don't you decide to do big things for God
and so you can bring forth more fruit.
You know, you can be some salt somewhere
and then you can get more people.
Get some salt, get some more salt.
Start reproducing.
You know, things bring forth after their own kind.
I think something really good salt
can bring forth some more really good salt.
But you know, the salt's lost its savor.
You know, I was thinking about these churches,
why do they, you know,
what does it mean to lose your savor?
What if the church, you know, is on fire for God,
but then they just stop, you know, go sowing?
They say, well, you know, it's cold outside,
it's dark, nobody's really showing up.
Let's just cancel sowing for a few months
and then we'll come back to it.
And then they never really do.
And then they're not going out and preaching
the gospel anymore.
And now it's been a year.
It's been two years.
Now you know they're not even really preaching
the Bible anymore because nobody really knows it.
Nobody really, you know,
it says you become a forgetful hearer
if you're not doing the word of God.
And then what happens?
That salt loses its savor slowly.
It slowly starts to deteriorate.
It becomes bold.
And then guess what happens?
There's no more fruit.
We need the salt to have good savor.
We need these churches that are just dying and decaying
and losing all their saltiness
to just get back on fire with God.
The only way you're gonna do that
is by going out soul winning,
by preaching the gospel,
by getting on fire for God.
You know, when it loses its savor,
it's good for nothing.
What is a big, you know,
ivory tower, King James Bible only church doing
when they don't have any soul winning,
no outreach program?
What does God look at that church and think?
It's good for nothing.
It's worthless, right?
Is he gonna preserve it?
Is God gonna preserve that church?
No, they don't have any salt.
You know, it's interesting to say,
well, we don't wanna go soul winning
because we don't wanna lose people.
We don't want people to get offended.
No, that's how you're gonna lose your church
if you don't have soul winning.
If you're not being salt,
you're not gonna be preserved yourself.
All these churches are dying and they're decaying.
And when the baby boomers leave,
they're gonna be gone.
There's gonna be so many churches that are empty houses
if we don't get some more salt in this world.
If we don't get some people on fire for God,
our nation's in trouble.
We need more salt.
And I'll close with Luke chapter 14.
Salt is good, but if the salt of love is the savor,
wherewith shall it be seasoned?
It is neither fit for the land nor yet for the dunghill,
but men cast it out.
He that have ears to hear, let him hear.
God wasn't talking about table salt when he said that.
He was talking about his disciples.
He was talking about those that wanted to follow him.
He said the salt is good.
You can know that if you're doing things for God
and you're on fire for God,
if you're preserving this world,
if you're preserving souls,
if you're going out and being in seasoning,
God says that's good.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you, Jesus Christ, for your word.
Thank you so much for the truths that you give us.
I pray that everyone in this room would see the importance
of just having our salt in our lives, of being salt,
of knowing that it's great importance,
that we have great value in your sight,
and that we are the ones that are preserving this world
if we're doing what you said.
I just pray that you just be a blessing on this church,
that we could go forth and we could have much fruit.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.