Matthew 5:13 (8/21/24)

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Matthew 5:13 (8/21/24)

How To Lose Your Saltiness

August 21, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 5:13

* We are called to be salt & light.

* As light, we expose darkness.

* We bring truth to lies, thus setting people free.

* As salt, we do lots of things:

* Sustain, Season, Sanitize, Sacrifice, Scatter, Strengthen.

* To do these things we have to mix in with the world.

* EX: People would use manure as fuel for a fire - mixing salt would make it burn longer.

* But salt can lose it saltiness.

* vs 13 - “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.”

* What can make you saltless?

* One thing is an unwillingness to give up everything for your faith.

* Luke 14:33-34 - “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything cannot be my disciples. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”

* Are you willing to give up everything for Christ?

* If not, you’ll lose your saltiness.

* Another thing that can cause you to lose your saltiness is bitterness.

* Tony Evans, in his book KINGDOM AGENDA, said this about salt losing it’s saltiness:

* “In biblical days people mixed gypsum with water to make a paste for patching holes in their roofs. The paste was solidified with salt, which rendered the salt good for nothing else because the bitterness of the gypsum canceled out the saltiness of the salt.”

* When we allow ourselves to grow bitter toward another person, it cancels out our ability to be useful to God.

* Bitterness may make us feel more comfortable in the moment, like patching a hole on a roof.

* But it’s not a solution that will hold up in a storm.

* God won’t give grace to someone who bears a grudge against one of His kids.

* We need to check our hearts to make sure we don’t have bitterness toward another person.

* Note - we did a bible study on Ezekiel 35:5 about the dangers of bitterness.

Matthew 5:39 (8/28/24)

August 28, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 5:39

* If someone physically hits on you on the cheek, what are you supposed to do? * If they jack you right in the face, how should you respond? * You tackle them and go to town! ha ha ha * But wait a second - didn’t Jesus say, “turn the other cheek?” * vs 38-39 - “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” * Key - if they slap you on the “right cheek.” * This isn’t about a physical attack - it’s about personal offense or being persecuted for your faith. * When someone wants to get ugly and attack you personally because of your faith, then you are not to get into a verbal or physical sparring match with them. * You are to turn the other cheek. * If someone walks up to me and tries to steal my wallet and thumps me in the face, I'm going to hit back as hard as humanly possible. * This has nothing to do with my faith. * This has everything to do with defending myself. * If you wait for the second hit, it may be too late! * But in matters of your faith, don't ever swing back. * God will handle that. * So what do you do? * You don’t punch back; you pray back. * When someone personally offends you, pray for them. * When someone persecutes you, pray for them. * Persecution is the queue for prayer! * Matthew 5:44 - “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” * EX: Bill Maher

Matthew 6:12 (8/28/24)

August 28, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 6:12

* Jesus mentions two things we are to forgive and seek forgiveness for: * Debts (vs 12) * Trespasses (vs 14-15) * vs 12 - “…and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” * vs 14-15 - “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” * Let’s look at the difference between the two: * A debt is something we should do, but we failed to do it. * We typically think about debt in terms of money - we owe a certain amount of money to someone. * The money is borrowed, so we make payments consistently. * Spiritually speaking, we have a debt to God and others. * God has granted us forgiveness even though we don’t deserve it, and the way we pay it back is by forgiving others. * We are commanded to love God and love others. * But when we fail to show love for God or love for others, we have failed to pay our debt. * This would include kindness and service to others when they are in need. * A trespass is something we did, but we shouldn’t have done. * A trespasser occupies a realm or exercises a right that belongs to someone else. * We trespass against God when we violate one of God's clear commands - we have crossed the boundary. * We trespass against others when we sin against them - we do, say, or think something that violates the law of love. * A sin against another is a sin against God. * On both occasions, the failure to do what we should have done and doing what we should not have done, we are to: * Seek forgiveness * Grant forgiveness * If we fail to grant forgiveness, we will not get forgiveness from God. * This is why Paul encourages us to forgive one another as God in Christ has also forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). * Forgiveness means to "let go." * God "lets go" of our offense toward Him when we repent (change of mind/direction) of our sin because He is merciful. * So when Jesus talks about forgiveness, He’s talking about “letting go” of two offenses, debts, and trespasses. * Our failure to do what we ought and doing what we ought not.

Matthew 5:2 (8/21/24)

August 21, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 5:2

* The most familiar and popular sermon in history is the Semon on the Mount. * The beatitudes - “Blessed are you…” * Salt and Light * Treatment of Enemies * Judging Others * It was Christ’s first public message. * It opened up with Him talking about who we should be on the inside. * Then he taught how it manifests on the outside. * We should be “righteous” so we can be “salt and light.” * Today, I noticed a phrase that was written by Matthew before Jesus spoke a word. * I read it in the NAS, which is a “word for word” translation. * vs 2 - “He opened His mouth and began to teach them…” * Why would Matthew feel the need to tell us that He opened His mouth before He began teaching? * That would be like me telling you a story about my first day at school and I tell you that my teacher “opened her mouth and taught us.” * Of course she did - it goes without saying. * I think it points to a valuable truth - Christ’s life preached the message before He spoke the message. * He lived the message He preached. * For the people who grew up around Jesus, if they heard His message on being gentle and merciful and pure - they would all say, “Yea, that’s who he is. We watched him help his poor neighbor. We saw Him help that old woman across the street. We never heard one foul word come out of his mouth.” * Christ lived it before He preached it. * Then, when the time was right - Jesus “opened His mouth!” * Applied to the workplace, you should do such an amazing job for your customers and clients that they want to know what makes you tick. * And when the time is right, you can “open your mouth” and share your faith. * At your job, you can be such a great employee and teammate that when people ask you what makes you tick, you can “open your mouth” and tell them the truth! * Two keys - Live and Look: * Live the life that preaches a message of God’s goodness. * Look for an opportunity to share about it. * Faith comes by “hearing.” * Jesus modeled this for us. * Matthew recorded it so we’d have it. * Now it’s our job to just go do it. * Let’s live the truth, then speak the truth when the opportunity presents itself!