Get Shakin'

Good afternoon, everyone. It's certainly good to be with you. If I waited any longer to get up here, I might get another title. I don't know. So I better be careful. Better make it quick. Thank you for that beautiful music. Wow, that was really wonderful. I had the privilege to be around the last several months and heard the students working on those songs, and it has really come together. You were peaking right at the right time, so it really was beautiful. Thanks for all the effort. There's something about music that says it in a way that just words alone just can't. And that praise and that honor and that glory to God just really comes out. I really, really appreciate that. So thanks for all your hard work in all the efforts in making that happen. So thank you very, very much. As you heard from Mr. Antion, the sermon is a baccalaureate sermon, and I had to think about, well, what exactly does that mean?

And I kind of looked up the word, what's the definition? Mainly a message that's more directed at the students as they're graduating, going on with their life. And I thought, well, is there something that would include all of us as we face the future that we all can think about? And the thing that came to mind was the motto of ABC. One of the mottos, it's on our little takettes that we received the other day. It says, teaching the truth.

Teaching the truth. It's on our banners at ABC. And as I thought about that, that's certainly what we as instructors have strived to do, is to teach the truth. Look to the truth of the Word of God. And hopefully we've helped you as students to build a stronger relationship with God, a lasting relationship with God, that will help you to set the example in your life, a relationship with God that's exemplified by living a life like Jesus Christ. Following His example, what could be more perfect as you prepare to leave ABC and get out there and lead and serve and give? And hopefully we begin in helping to prepare you for that, because it doesn't stop here. This is not where it stops. In fact, this is just the beginning, isn't it? Because hopefully we prepared you for your duty, a duty of leadership in teaching future generations as well, because teaching the truth doesn't stop here. And so it's time to get out there, isn't it? It's time, you might say, to get shaken. Now the reason that came to mind as my title, we were eating the other day in the cafeteria, and the seasoning of choice at ABC. Does anyone know what the seasoning of choice at ABC is? It's Tabasco, or sometimes a hot sauce. And so I thought, wouldn't it be great if I could give a sermon on hot sauce or Tabasco, and I did a search, and Tabasco's not in the Bible. So I thought, well maybe the next best thing would be salt, because salt is a seasoning that is mentioned in the Bible. In fact, something happened the other day. Evan and Emily were working in the kitchen, and they asked Mrs. Sipes, Mrs. Sipes, why is it taking so long to refill all the salt shakers? And Mrs. Sipes said, well, it's really hard to get all the salt in those little tiny holes.

Okay, that didn't really happen.

We have fun at ABC Besides. But actually, since Tabasco wasn't in the Bible, and salt is, there are some amazing examples of how salt was used, especially in ancient times. You probably are aware that during the New Testament times salt was very highly prized. It was an important commodity. In fact, some of the societies where salt was so scarce, that it was actually more valuable than gold. Now, can you imagine that if that was that way today? We wouldn't have to listen to all those commercials on TV about buying gold.

We'd all be in good shape now. But it's amazing that when you start to look into this concept of salt in ancient times, even during the Greek times, when Greek society was at its peak, they called salt theron, which isn't the name for salt, but it's a word that means divine. Because salt was so important in society back then. And you probably heard that there was a time when Roman soldiers were actually paid in salt.

Sounds kind of funny. But the word for a salary, solarium, actually comes from the word salt. And so that's where you get the phrase, someone is not worth their salt, when they're just not a worker the way they should be. And so when you begin to look at salt in the Bible, you know that Jesus himself said, salt is good.

Now, why would he say that? Why would Christ say salt is good? Well, let's think about that for a minute. You graduate from ABC, and as you get ready to take your learning out there into the real world, I hope you'll think about taking the power of spiritual salt with you.

So are you ready to get shaken? Not shake in, e-n, shake in like a salt shaker. There's a couple of things about salt, I think, that are very powerful. If you turn over to Matthew 5, Christ Himself said something interesting to all of us. Let's notice the words of Christ over in Matthew 5. Here in Matthew 5, of course, this is one of the sermons, the very first sermons, that was recorded of Christ.

And He talks about salt here in chapter 5, verse 13, after going through all the beatitudes, all the blessed are those. He comes to an interesting point here in verse 13, Matthew 5, 13. Christ Himself said, you are the salt of the earth. You're the salt of the earth. Well, why would He say that? Why would He say, you're the salt? Now, think a little bit about the times that Christ lived in. You know, it was really easy to keep meat and products back then, wasn't it?

Because you just go to your refrigerator, you open it up, and you put in your meat or your vegetables, and it... No, that didn't work, didn't it? They didn't have refrigerators, did they? And so they used salt as a food preservative, didn't they? And it preserved food. And so as you leave ABC, I hope you will take the preserving power of spiritual salt with you.

Because salt was a preservative. It was something that preserved the food. We, as God's people, you as ABC graduates, need to preserve truth. How important is it that we, as God's people, live the truth, we teach the truth, and we preserve God's truth? Think about how the truth has been preserved over the millennia. What if it hadn't been for Noah? What if Noah hadn't preserved the truth of God? Where would we be today? Imagine, if there had been ten righteous who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah, what would have happened differently back then?

If there was a preservation of the truth. You see, the spiritual concept of preserving power of salt means that we have to be the salt of the earth, because God values us. He values His truth, and He wants us to live by that truth, and promote that truth, and teach that truth, and preach that truth. Live it! In fact, the other day in the Epistles of Paul, we went over 2 Timothy 3 and verse 10. If you turn over there, perhaps the apostle Paul had the preserving power of spiritual salt in mind when he wrote to the young minister Timothy. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 10. I think it speaks to this preserving power that God wants us to live by.

Notice how Timothy was preserving God's truth as he had been taught. 2 Timothy 3.10. Notice what the apostle Paul says to him.

He says, He says, Well, that's quite a list to begin with, isn't it? Now, some of you may describe ABC like that in the months that you've been here. Some of those descriptions probably fit, because you have suffered long at times. You have been faithful in attending your classes. You have been striving to live by God's way. You have been trying to live by true doctrine. So Paul was telling Timothy that he had faithfully followed these things as well. And he says that he also suffered through persecutions, and he endured them, it says, and God delivered him out of them all. And notice what he says to all of us.

In verse 12, he says, You see, he warns Timothy. He's warning us by extension. If we don't stick to the truth, if we don't preserve the truth in our own life, we could fall prey to these kinds of things. And so Paul tells Timothy in verse 14, And so as graduates, we must follow Paul's instructions and be that preserving power, because you've learned these things.

And now it says you've been assured of them, knowing from whom you've learned them. You didn't learn them from me. You didn't learn them from Mr. Antion or Mr. Stiver or any of the others. Hopefully you've learned them from the Word of God. You've learned them from God. Maybe we were tools in helping that learning a little bit, but they came from God. They're the words of life, and you've learned them. And so now it's time to preserve them, both in the way we live and the way that we conduct our lives.

So it's not just knowing them, but now it's putting it into practice in our life. Because salt is a seasoning, and it spices things up. And hopefully you've learned a zest for God's way of life. Hopefully now you can begin to preserve and begin to live that life, and it will be an indication of how much you have learned, because you're now putting it into practice more than ever before.

And so that's your goal, to continue with that process of preserving the truth of God. In fact, if you flip just a couple of pages over to 2 Timothy 4, just a chapter over, 2 Timothy 4, verse 1, here it says, "'I charge you therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead, and his appearing and his kingdom.'" He says it's a charge, it's a commission.

He's admonishing us, he's teaching us. What does he say? Preach the Word. It's a command. To do it. A military command in a sense, that we need to get out there now. Get out there and live it. Be ready, it says, in season and out of season, no matter what the time is, so that we can convince. Because some will need convincing. Sometimes we need convincing ourselves to put these things into practice. He says, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. He says the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will keep up for themselves teachers, and they'll turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.

And boy, what a strong reminder that is for us, isn't it? That we've got to look to the truth. We've got to look to the only truth that we really know. That's the Word, isn't it? It's not somebody else's interpretation of the Word, or somebody else's writings that might be on the internet or on Facebook. We look to the truth of God, the only truth we really know. And so Paul reminds us to be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, and do the work of an evangelist so you fulfill your ministry, your service.

If you've come in and now you're going out, and you're going out to serve and to give back the wonderful lessons that God has taught you. And so now we have this wonderful opportunity to be like an evangelist, one who is a bringer of good news. That's what that word literally means, doesn't it? To be a bringer of good news. And as a graduate of ABC, you can be a bringer of good news, can't you?

Because you've received that good news, and now it's time to spread it. Now it's time to put it into practice. Now it is interesting, when you look back in the Old Testament, salt was an important thing there as well when it came to a preserving power. Do you realize that offerings were to be made with salt? Old Testament offerings were made with salt. If you go back to Leviticus 2, verse 13, there's a powerful statement here that I think brings this idea all together to be a preserving power. That salt should be a spiritual concept in our lives so that we preserve the power of God in us and we pass it on to others.

Notice Leviticus 2, verse 13. I apologize for my voice a little bit. I think some of the allergies of the area are coming out a little bit, so I don't seem to have a cold, but allergies are getting me just a little bit, so we'll probably drink a lot of water here. It's making me thirsty talking about salt. Now, here in Leviticus 2, verse 13, it says, Every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt.

And you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt. I find that an interesting thing, that God instructed the Israelites that at every sacrifice, whether it was the grain offerings, whether it was other offerings, that He had to season them with salt.

And that was a sign of their covenant with God. Now, we've made a covenant with God, haven't we? For those of us that are baptized, we committed our lives to Him. We have, in a sense, made a covenant of salt with God. And so they salted the temple sacrifices, and it really lives. There's some interesting symbolism behind these things. Even the incense that represented the prayers of the people were salted as they were offered.

Now, can you imagine? As you think about the symbolism of these things, we have a salt covenant, in a sense, that represents the fact that we are bound to God. We are bound to Him. We are loyal to Him. We are not going to fall short in truthfully serving and giving and representing Him no matter what. And, of course, some of the sacrifices didn't survive when they were offered, did they? You know, if they had a bull or a goat or a lamb, that sacrifice was killed, wasn't it?

It was giving its life as a sacrifice to God. And so this salt covenant wasn't something that was done lightly, it wasn't done haphazardly, it wasn't something that was done in a non-thinking kind of way, it was something that was seriously considered. And so it is with us, isn't it? When we're leaving ABC, we seriously think about our lives being a sacrifice to God in every way, that everything we do should represent a living sacrifice, a sacrifice that represents everything that God means to us. Of course, we find that living sacrifice mentioned over in the book of Romans, Romans 12, verse 1.

Remember the Apostle Paul reminded us all that instead of salting a piece of beef on the altar, instead of a grain offering or the incense offering being salted, our lives should be preserved with spiritual salt to represent a tremendous spiritual truth. Romans 12, 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God you present your bodies a living sacrifice. It says, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And so, ABC grads, that is our reasonable service, isn't it? That we be acceptable before God, that we put the truths that we've been given into practice in our lives. And so Paul recognizes, verse 2, he says, don't be conformed to this world. And here at ABC, in some ways it's been a little easy, hasn't it? Because we're surrounded by people that are doing the same things we are. They're coming to class every day, they're hearing the truth, we're studying together. And so we're surrounded by like-minded people every single day, almost every hour of the day, for that matter. Now, as we go out, we won't have such close contact with each other anymore. Maybe it'll only be on the Sabbath that we'll be able to be with people of such like mind.

Well, that means we're going to be open, attacked, in so many ways, by the world, by other ways of thinking. And Paul's reminding us, don't be taken in by that. Don't be conformed to the ways of this world. But remember that salt that you're seasoned with. Preserve the truth and live the truth, and be transformed by that truth, is what Paul says, doesn't he? He says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So instead of being at ABC every single day, you're going to go before God every day. You're going to get down on your knees every single day, and you're going to renew your mind, and be close to God, and be dedicated to Him. And by doing that, you'll be that living sacrifice. You'll sprinkle that salt on your own life, and you'll petition God. And that way you can be living, and like Paul says, proving that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And so what an awesome opportunity that we have here. We have a wonderful opportunity. In fact, you might just write down Jude 1. Over in the book of Jude, he writes, I think, in a very special way. As he begins his letter, he says he's a bondservant of Jesus Christ, brother of James. He says, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. And so, symbolic of this spiritual salt, I hope ABC has preserved you in Jesus Christ, so that you can be that shining example as you get out there in the world and start shaking. All right, there's a second spiritual representation for salt. Spiritual salt also has penetrating power. It has penetrating power. Salt has an amazing cleansing ability. You know, they still use salt that way. Now, we were at Panama City for the feast last year. And before getting to the feast, I had done some little fix-it-work-at-home, tried to do a little bit of carpentry and different things, and I had kind of scraped up my hands pretty good a couple of times, trying to drive a nail in and do different things. Getting out in the water. Does this ever happen to you? Get out in the ocean, and suddenly I can feel every little cut and every little scrape that was on my hands, because that salt would just get right into those little spots and every nook and cranny, whether it was a little crack or a little cut. You ever notice that? It just gets right in there, and it can really start to irritate you a little bit, because it's cleaning up those sores, cleaning up those little cuts and bruises. Salt can do that. And spiritual salt, I think it's given to us as that symbolism to remind us how it can clean things up. Now, there's an example in the Old Testament of this. It's back in 2 Kings 2, verse 19.

2 Kings 2, verse 19.

There's an example of this with the prophet Elisha.

I think this example is given to us to show, in this particular situation, how salt can clean things up. Now, it's not normally done this way today. But back then, I think it was a reminder of how God wants us to be spiritually. Notice this example of the prophet Elisha. It says, The men of the city said to Elisha, Please notice the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord sees. But the water's bad, the ground is barren. So Elisha says, Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it. So they brought it to him.

And he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, Thus says the LORD, I have healed this water, and it there shall be no more death or barrenness. So the water remains healed to this very day, according to the word of Elisha, which he spoke. So here's an example. Now, I don't recommend this today. Today you might just have salty water if you did that.

But God used this, I think as an example, to show the cleansing power of salt. And of course, God intervened and did this. But for us today, the word of God itself is a salt, isn't it? That it does good. It cleans us. When it penetrates us, when the salt of the word of God penetrates our life, God can do amazing things with us, can't He? When we allow the salt of God to change our lives. You see, His word can have a powerful effect. How about Hebrews 4.12? We just went over this the other day in the Epistles of Paul.

Hebrews 4.12, probably a memory verse. Remember that one? It says, the word of God is what? Living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. See, that's the way God's word is. It pierces right to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It's a discerner of the thoughts and of the heart. The intense of the heart, I think, is what the passage says there.

You see, that's what God's word is. It's like salt. It gets right down in every nook and cranny. And so, grads, allow the penetrating power of the salt of the word of God to penetrate your life and fill in every nook and cranny so that you can build that strong relationship with God. So you can represent God the Father and Jesus Christ in everything you say and everything that you do.

Because spiritual salt is a powerful thing. I remember when I was a kid, my mom loved gardens. She loved gardens. She would get so carried away planting, you know, not just five tomato plants or ten tomatoes.

She'd plant a hundred tomato plants, and we'd have to weed them. So that was supposed to be our job. My brothers and I would often get off track a little bit because I remember one year especially, for whatever reason, it was kind of rainy, maybe a little bit like this year, and there were slugs everywhere. And if you've ever had an infestation of slugs, they're weird little creatures, you know, like snails without a shell. But as little boys, we had a lot of fun with slugs when we found out what happens when you put salt on a slu...

Oh, huh. Now don't feel bad for the slugs. They seem to just keep coming all over. Well, you know what happens when you put salt on a slug, right? It just kind of all withers up, and it's really cool. Yes, I did learn salt and slugs do not mix. But it was a reminder to me, salt kills some things, doesn't it? Salt kills some things. Too much salt. I know some... Don't eat too much salt. Maybe you have high blood pressure. Salt's not a good thing, so you put you on a diet not eating very much salt because it's not necessarily good for high blood pressure.

So certainly, salt can kill. And I think that's an interesting symbolic nature of salt as well. The Word of God should cause us to kill something, shouldn't it? If you think about it, it should help us to kill the old man, kill that person that we're not supposed to be, get rid of everything that's not godly. If we pour spiritual salt on our own selves, on our own sin, like that slug, it's going to wither up and kill that sin and eliminate it from our life.

Isn't that what Jesus wants us to do? Doesn't Christ want us to do that? I think in some ways, He didn't say you're the sugar of the world. He didn't say you're the syrupy sweetness necessarily, or the honey, you're the salt of the earth. You're the salt of the earth. Yes, we need love. That's not the point of the sermon today. But there's times that we have to kill the old man. It's an interesting example back in the Judges. Judges 9, verse 45, I'll just draw your attention to it.

It caught my attention when I was thinking about this concept of how salt can kill. Part of the symbolism that we're supposed to understand is that we need a pure character. We need to put on the mind of Christ. We need to get rid of the things that aren't Christ-like, and kill those things and get them out of our life, and ask God to renew the mind of Christ in us.

But here back in the Judges, Judges 9, 45, there's the story of Abimelech. Abimelech was fighting the city, and something interesting happened back here in Judges 9, 45. I'm just going to read a little passage here just to draw your attention to this. It says, Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He ends up winning the city. What happens? He took the city. He killed the people who were in it. He follows God's instructions. He says that he demolished the city, and he sowed it with salt.

So he sprinkled salt all over this whole area. Now, why would you do that? Why would you sprinkle salt, pour it all over the city, all over the land, all over what would have been crops? Well, I learned that a couple of winters ago in Minnesota. We had our driveway salted because it got really, really icy, especially bad one time. So we had this salt truck come out, and it was whirring this salt all over the place.

And both sides of the driveway that spring, all there was was dead grass because the salt got on it. And I was reminded of this passage. You throw salt on cropland, and it kills everything. It kills everything.

And so here Abimelech was killing the fields. He was killing the potential for this city, which was against God, was not living God. He was sowing it with salt so that nothing would grow there. And so it was a reminder to me, for us, for you and I, as we salt our lives with the spiritual salt of God, we put to death sin. We get sin out of our life. And so we can be a better representative of God the Father and Jesus Christ. In fact, I was reminded, as I ran across an interesting story, true story, about a young man from Rwanda.

Back around 1980, there was civil war going on, terrible situation. And this one particular young man from Rwanda was confronted. He was trying to be a Christian. Now, not to the extent that we know, but he was forced by his tribe to either reject Christianity or face certain death in the morning. Well, the night before he was killed, he wrote a note that was discovered after his death.

It was found in his room. And it said something amazing. Here's what the note said. He wrote, my face is set. My walk is fast. My goal is the kingdom. My road is narrow. My way is rough. My guide is reliable. My mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of my enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in a maze of mediocrity. I won't give up. I won't shut up. I won't let up. I won't slow up, till I prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stood up for God.

Powerful words, aren't they? From someone who we would say isn't even a true Christian. So how much more should we live those words and have that preserving power, have that penetrating power of salt, infiltrate our life so we can contaminate sin? There's a third power of spiritual salt. A third power is the perching power of sin. Like I said before, just talking about salt seems to make you thirsty. You read some popcorn? Yeah, I love popcorn. But boy, you just can't eat popcorn.

You get out the potato chips, get salt. You've got to have something to drink, right? Eating salty food makes us thirsty, doesn't it? That's an interesting reminder for us. What are we thirst for? You've all seen the programs, maybe movies, where someone's in the desert and they're stranded and they're crawling along.

We all know what they say as they're thirsty. They say, beer. Oh, no, they don't. They say, water. They want water. What do people think when they meet us? Do we reflect that parched power of water? Are we thirsty for God's water, for God's Spirit to live more fully in us? Are we responding to God's way more thoroughly?

Psalm 63, David wrote an amazing song that reminds us what we're thirsty for. Psalm 63 is a psalm of David. In fact, we sing this song, at least parts of the words of this song, quite often. See if you recognize them as we just read the words in Psalm 63. Here David is in the wilderness of Judah. He's running, fleeing for his life. And notice his perspective.

As he's faced with the challenges of Saul trying to take his life, David realizes how thirsty he really is. He recognizes that parching power, that thirstiness that Saul creates. He says in verse 1, O God, you are my God. Early will I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land, where there's no water.

O and as grads we may be going out to a place where there isn't the presence of God, and we may be the only ones there. Well, do we step up? Do we fill the shoes that God's called us to fill and be that representative of him? So David was certainly looking to God. He says in verse 2, And so David recognized the fact that he needed that water.

He recognized that that thirsting for God should never go away. In fact, we know that Christ used that in the example that he gave in John. You might just write down John 4. Remember when he was at the well? Jesus was at the well.

And he was talking about that physical water to this lady at the well. And she was very proud of the fact that this was an old well. And yet, Christ said there was something more. Not just physical water. Whoever drank of that well was going to get thirsty again. It wasn't going to last. You see, we drink water, and we get thirsty all over again. But what did Christ tell her?

Christ told her the water that he would give would be water that would become a fountain that would spring up into everlasting life. You see, that's the kind of water. Being the salt of the earth, we recognize the fact that's the water that will quench that thirst.

That will cause us to grow in grace and knowledge. Cause us to be that fountain. And we may be that fountain wherever we end up in our life. We may be the only representative of God's way in our town. So will we be that fountain? It's interesting when you look at all the various ways that salt was used. Salt as a a parching power also represented enduring friendships. That with salt, as you became thirsty, you become thirsty for relationships. You know, if you're away from your family, as you left home and you came to ABC, you probably missed your family. You're going to miss each other. I saw it in class in the last couple days when we talk about things. You kind of see the emotions come forward. We're getting near the end. We're not going to see each other. We're going to miss being with each other, aren't we? We're going to miss our friendships. Salt was symbolic in ancient times of enduring friendship. And so when you think about each other, remember those endur... Because they're not just friendships here at ABC. These are things that are going to last. We want to stay in touch. We want to stay close. And so take that opportunity. When you become thirsty, call each other. Talk to each other. Skype each other. Facebook each other. Stay in touch. So that you can have that enduring relationship because hopefully it's going to remind you of even the more powerful relationship that we have with God the Father and Jesus Christ.

You know, in ancient times, if you didn't have salt, you had... You were disloyal. It meant that you were barren. But you know, that's not the way it is at ABC, is it? At ABC, we would say, there is salt between us. There's salt between us, which is a phrase that many Eastern people still use today. It means that we have a connection. We have something in common. We have the truth of God. All of us, as God's people, have salt between us. So grads, thirst for God in your life. You have the wonderful opportunity to promote the thirst of God in the world as well.

All right, a final power of spiritual salt is the pizazz power of salt.

What does salt do? Salt flavors things, doesn't it? It spices things up a little bit. And I didn't realize this a long time ago. My mother doesn't like salt. She didn't like much salt, so she hardly puts salt in anything. So I remember sitting at breakfast one day when I was a little kid, and Mom gave me some oatmeal. And it tasted terrible! It was just like, this is disgusting! What is wrong with this oatmeal?

And finally, she said, oh, I forgot to put the salt in yours. I thought, salt? That's not going to make it taste any good. Because that just sounded like it was going to make it taste bad. Worse than it already did. I thought, wow, it needs more sugar or something, right? And I was wrong! Totally wrong. I put a little dash of salt in there, and suddenly the flavor just jumps right out. It was like, wow! What a difference! And so salt takes that blandness away. And when it's not there, wow! You miss it, even in oatmeal. So what about us as God's people? You see, as God's people, we're supposed to have that tang. We're supposed to have that pizzazz. We're supposed to have a, what would you say, a divine flavor that really spices things up, spices life up. Because when you add salt to food, it really does permeate it. It doesn't actually change the food. Just sometimes just a smidgen, just a little bit in your oatmeal makes it all good. And maybe that's what Christ had in mind. Look over to John, I'm sorry, Mark. Look over to Mark 9, verse 50. Mark 9, verse 50.

You talk about the pizzazz of salt, especially the spiritual salt that we're supposed to be. Notice what Christ said, Mark 9, verse 50. Christ Himself said, salt is good. It's a good thing. But if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Your oatmeal is still going to taste just as bad. He says, have salt in yourselves. That's that spiritual salt. And have peace with one another. Do we put that spiritual salt to use in our lives? Over in Colossians, the apostle Paul said, let our speech be seasoned with salt. Even the things that we say should have the flavor of God the Father and Jesus Christ in the things that we say. Just in the things that we do as well. How do we answer each other? How do we talk? How do we live our lives? We do it with seasoning. We do it in a seasoned way, in a godly way. And of course, he also implies here, salt can lose its flavor. It can lose its flavor. It can get all stuck together. Sometimes you put rice in the salt shaker so it doesn't get all stuck together and can't get it out. You see, we're supposed to keep that flavor. Because like worthless salt, you just throw it out. Not only good for killing something on the ground. You say, we need God's salt within us. We need that spiritual salt. And so that we can be seasoned in a way. If you look a little bit further down here. Let's look back just a little. Look at verse 49. It says, for everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Now it's interesting. Literally, if you looked up the Greek words here for seasoned, it's the word salt. It's the word salt. So everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt. Isn't that interesting? There's going to be tough times in our life. There's going to be difficulties. There's going to be some fire. There's going to be some challenges, especially as students you're going to face. Maybe it's completing your education. Maybe it's finding a job. Maybe it's starting a family. Whatever it may be, there's going to be some challenges that are going to come. But if we put into practice the pizzazz that God wants us to, and we look to Him to flavor our lives, we'll get through those tests. We'll get through those trials.

We'll be able to stay seasoned in God's way. I was reminded of this the other day when I was reading one of the Barnas studies. George Barna does a lot of surveys of religious people, and he was doing a survey in America, and he was summarizing some of the results of that survey. And it was pretty amazing, as he was just surveying your normal everyday Christians out there in the world.

As he commented on one of his surveys, he wrote this. He said, the average Christian in the average church is almost indistinguishable from the rest of society.

It's kind of surprising to read that. He wrote, the fundamental moral and ethical difference that Christ can make in how we live is missing.

He said, when the marriages of Christians end in divorce at the same rate as the rest of society, when Christians cheat in business or lie or steal and cheat on their spouses at the same statistical level as those who say they're not Christians, something is terribly wrong.

That's society out there. You see, those that claim to be Christians aren't flavoring the world in God's way. What a reminder for us. We can't be like that. You know, God's Word has to make a difference within us. As salt, we're to live our lives in a way that allows God to live through us and in us. And then it's going to spread, because when you shake salt, it seems to get all over the place, doesn't it? That it's going to affect others. It's going to bring out the best in those around us as well, isn't it?

No wonder in Philippians Paul said, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. And that's your goal as ABC grads, to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. There's going to be ups and downs. There's going to be unexpected turns. Life's going to bring that. So how are we going to handle it? I think you can take control of your life by taking control of your attitudes. You can have that pizzazz of spiritual salt when we remember to press on, no matter what life brings, with godly confidence. Not confidence in ourselves, but confidence in the things that God can do. So I hope as grads you will pursue your passions, pursue what is so meaningful for each and every one of you.

But as you think about the pizzazz that life brings, think about those challenges. Don't confuse feelings with facts.

Feelings are not facts. Don't confuse them. Don't confuse fun with happiness.

And don't confuse pleasure with fulfillment. Because those are very, very different things. God wants us to have that flavor of the spirituality that's found only in God. And so let's be that flavor. Be careful of your choices. Don't do those things that will jeopardize your health. Watch out for your reputation. And most importantly, spice up your relationship with God. Don't settle for a little life. Don't settle for that. Fill it with the flavor of God. Fill it with purpose. Fill it with meaning. Love God. Love His people.

Now with that in mind, I'll conclude with something that's very familiar to all our ABC graduates. It's sometimes called a doxology. They'll laugh a little bit about that. It was on one of our tests, so we had some good discussions about what exactly a doxology is. It's not something necessarily that's in the Bible. It's supposed to be an expression of praise to God, but sometimes made the use of a hymn or a song or even a prayer. So sometimes the answer wasn't exactly obvious on the test.

But there's an example of that over in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 13, verse 20. Take a look at Hebrews 13, verse 20, sometimes called a doxology, which is just an expression of praise and glory to God. Literally the word means a word of glory. Hebrews 13, verse 20.

We were concluding our epistles of Paul class with this phrase just the other day. And I think it's a powerful conclusion as we look forward to the future and walking from the halls of ABC out into the world. Paul wrote to the Hebrews, and he writes to us by extension. He says in verse 20 of chapter 13, Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you, as ABC graduates, all of us, as God's people, may it make us complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

So, ABC class of 2011, fellow children of God, fellow Christians, let's be about the business of preserving, of penetrating, of thirsting, and of flavoring the world with the truth of God.

Let's get shaken.