HAVE I EVER MADE ANYONE THIRSTY FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST?--MARK 9:49-50

HAVE I EVER MADE ANYONE THIRSTY FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST?

MARK 9:49-50

Matthew 5:13, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his 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.”

Introduction:

At a meeting some young people were discussing the text, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” One suggestion after another was made as to the meaning of “salt” in this verse.

“Salt imparts a desirable flavor,” said one.

“Salt preserves from decay,” another suggested.

Then a Chinese Christian girl spoke out of an experience none of the others had. “Salt creates thirst,” she said, and there was a sudden hush in the room. Everyone was thinking, “Have I ever made anyone thirsty for the Lord Jesus Christ?”

I. “SALT IMPARTS A DESIREABLE FLAVOR.”

A. It makes things palatable, 2 Peter 2:20, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.”

B. Elisha used salt to sweeten the brackish was of Jericho spring, 2 Kings 2:19-22, “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 naught, and the ground barren. 20And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. 21And he went forth unto 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. 22So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.”

C. No one desires a Christian who is not tempered by salt in his life, Matthew 5:13, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his 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.”

II. “SALT PRESERVES FROM DECAY.”

A. Preserves from the decay of the marriage, Ephesians 5:21, “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”

1. The husband accepts his biblical responsibilities, Ephesians 5:25, 28, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.”

a. As Christ…loved the church.

b. Men should love their wives “as their own bodies.”

2. The wife accepts her biblical roll, Ephesians 5:22-24, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23-For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24-Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.”

a. Submit to his position as head of the wife.

b. Be subject to his leadership in everything.

B. Preserves from the decay of the family

1. It preserves harmony, Philippians 2:4, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

2. It produces respect for the father, Hebrews 12:9, “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?”

3. It produces reverence for God, Hebrews 12:28, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:”

III. “SALT CREATES THIRST.”

A. Salty tongue, James 3:12, “Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”

1. Let your speech be seasoned with salt, Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

2. A fresh attitude, a new spirit, is what we need, Ezekiel 11:19, “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:”

1. Seasoned tongue, Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

2. Let the words of Christ dwell in you, Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

a. Richly, 1 Timothy 6:17, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;”

b. In all wisdom, Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

3. Season your offering with salt, Leviticus 2:13, “And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.”

CONCLUSION

Salt played a big part in the life of an individual in the Bible. In Matthew 5:13 (above) the Disciples are likened unto salt, with reference to its cleansing and preserving uses.

Do you have salt in your Christian life that would cause someone to desire to be a Believer in Jesus Christ?