You Are the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World

In the last few months, I've started a series of sermons covering the book of Matthew. We did start to do sermons on the Mount, which is Matthew chapter 5. We did discuss the Beatitudes, which are, in a sense, attitudes or good attitudes that we should have, as true Christians, representing the character of Christ, of us to develop the character of Christ. I went through in great detail how we need to be poor in spirit, we need to mourn and repent and be teachable, be meek, hunger and thirst for God's righteousness, we need to have an attitude of mercy, pure in heart and be peacemakers. I'll cover that, as we become peacemakers, is that we will be persecuted for righteousness sake. After Christ talks about the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, he finishes that in verse 12, then starting from verse 13 through verse 16, which is the section that I want to cover today, verses 13 through 16, he then addresses his disciples directly and talks about the outcome of what Christians are to be, the outcome of those Beatitudes, of that godly character that we have. And he starts in verse 13, in Matthew 5, saying, You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? Is it then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot? Amen. We are to be the salt of the earth. It's interesting that it says, yeah, of the earth. Once when it's talking about the light with the light of the world, it uses the term earth, yeah, which is of the territory of the abode of man, of the sland, of the ground, of the area we live in. And he knows in the crisis, you are, which basically says, we have a profession. We have a job. We have an obligation to fulfill, to be the salt of the earth. Now, a few weeks ago, I gave also a sermon about some of the offerings. And if you recall, I covered the first three offerings of Leviticus 1, 2 and 3. And the second offering, which is again a grain offering, which is in Leviticus 2. So I want you to briefly turn to Leviticus 2, to that grain offering, or meat offering, Leviticus 2. And that meat offering, which is one, which is a well pleasing aroma to God, it says there in verse 11, and the priest shall burn, Leviticus 2, this offering on the altar as food, an offering made by fire. And if this offering is a goat, then, I beg your pardon, I am reading chapter 3 instead of chapter 2. So let me go back to chapter 2. Verse 11 says, No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, but it shall burn no leaven nor any ani in any offering of the Lord made by fire. Verse 12 is for the offering of the first fruits, you shall offer them to the Lord, but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet aroma. And in verse 13, And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt.

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. And so the offering now, which is a sweet smelling aroma to God, is to be done with salt. And it talks about being a covenant. It says the salt of the covenant of your God. In other words, it's a sign of an agreement which is everlasting, because salt has a characteristic of a preservative of lasting, like a lasting friendship, a covenant which is a lasting covenant. Now, you may not be aware of this, but, well, part of it you are aware, but you may not be aware of the second part that I'm going to refer in this example. The part that you're aware is that around about the 15th and 16th century, there were Portuguese sailors navigating the world. And through that you got people like Christopher Columbus that found America and things like that. So that part you know. But what you may not know is that they took in those boats what they called is codfish. In Portugal they call it bacalao. And you can go to the supermarket and buy bacalao or codfish, which is lying not in the refrigerator. And you say, how's that possible? Because it has been dried and preserved with salt.

So it's actually a dried fish preserved with salt. So salt is a preservative. And so when people go and cook it, they have to soak it in water for a few days for it to get the water back into it and to take some of the extra taste of salt out. And there's a technique of how to cook that. Now typically when you cook codfish, it's actually fresh codfish. But this frozen, not frozen, but dried codfish with salt, it's got a very peculiar taste. Originally when I was young I used to hate it.

But now I love it. And if you cook it properly, it's actually very pleasant. And my wife also loves it when you cook it properly and you make different dishes with it. It's very nice. But the salt is a preservative. In other words, prevents corruption. Can you see the spiritual symbolism, Yaree? Now, coming from South Africa, they do something else with salt. They cut meat and they spice it with a few spices, but with salt. And then they hang it to dry with salt. So it's similar in a sense to jerky, but it's not because jerky is processed with a lot of chemicals and things like that. This is not. And they call it bolthong.

And it's preserved basically with salt. So salt is known to help or prevent germs from being in that environment. As they say, germs cannot survive with salt. And I don't know if you ever have a bit of a throatache, you might goggle with a little saline solution.

Or I know we quite often have what we call a saner's wash. And that's a saline solution. You can make your own saline solution or you can buy little packets of that already prepared. And so salt is a preservative. In all days, they used to rub babies with salt. But, you know, that was somehow a way of helping them to prevent some illnesses. Interesting. Even the Bible refers to that.

In Ezekiel 16.4, when it's talking about Israel, and it's talking about how God took these people, and they were filthy and dirty. They were not even rubbed with salt, it says there in Ezekiel 16.4. Not going to turn there, but just keep it there as a reference. That it shows that they understood what that was, the washing of soap. You know, when you perspire and you're very hot and you become dehydrated, you can often say, well, just drink some water. But water itself is not enough, because if you're really dehydrated, you've lost some salts. And you need to have water with salt to actually help your body. So salt is good. It's important for your body.

It's an essential component of our lives. And we saw there a covenant of salt. It's not an only place. It talks about a covenant of salt. If you just go one chapter further, just to show you an example, in Numbers 18 verse 19. Numbers 18 verse 19, it says, All the offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you. So Yah is saying that these offerings and the tithes have been given to the Levites.

He says, they've been offered to you as an ordinance forever. It is a covenant of salt. In other words, it's a covenant forever for the Levites. The Levites did not get land, but they would get the tithes from the people. And then the Levites were supposed to tithe that tithe to the priests, as you may remember. So it was a covenant of salt forever. In other words, it had as a salt was a perpetuity in their preservation. When we look at the earth today, and it says, you and I are supposed to be the salt of the earth.

When you and I look at the earth today, when you look at society, when you look at people, what is happening to the society today? It's decaying. It's getting more and more corrupt. It lacks salt to preserve it. And it says, you are the salt of the earth. In other words, you and I are that little bit of flavoring to the earth that makes God say it's worth to save it and to rescue it. Can you think of a time when one man, one man, example, was enough of a salt to make God preserve the earth?

No, I'm correct. Look at Genesis 6. Genesis 6. Genesis 6, starting in verse 5. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every attempt of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. In other words, the earth was becoming more and more corrupt.

And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. So the Lord said, I'll destroy man. I'll wipe man's cutout. The earth is not worth to keep. Both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air. For I'm sorry that I made them. But one man, Noah, he was the salt of the earth to God, and he found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

One person made a difference. One person made a difference. He was a pleasant flavor to God, and God used therefore Noah to preserve life on earth through his descendants.

Look at Matthew chapter 24. Now, we come to a period that is referring to the Great Tribulation.

Look at verse 20. Matthew 24 verse 20.

Look at verse 36.

But of that day and hour, Noah knows, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father only. But as the days of nowhere, so also be the coming of the Son of Man. Just like in the days in Noah, that he was one that found grace in God's eyes as the salt of the earth. You and I need to fulfill that responsibility as well to be the salt of the earth. To sell that the earth will not be destroyed, and God will intervene for the whole mankind. I want you to look at a very interesting scripture in Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9 verse 49. Mark chapter 9 verse 49.

In the Aoi, it's Christ's words, and he says, For every one will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.

Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another. Every one will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.

As we heard in the sermon, there are trials, there are tests, and fire purifies. So we'll all be purified with fire. We'll all be seasoned with salt to be pure, to develop that seed of incorruption in us. Following on that thought, look at Matthew chapter 3 verse 7 through 12. Matthew chapter 3 verse 7 through 12.

And this is talking about John the Baptist. And when you saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Brudel Vipers, who wants you to flee from the wrath to come?

Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. Verse 9, And do not think to say to yourselves, We have Abram as our father, for I say to you that God is able to raise our children to Abram from these stones. Verse 10, And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. That is that chaff. You know, we've got to be separated, the wheat, from the straw, from that chaff, and that will be burned. And that act of separation is, in a sense, a testing by fire, so that we can be seasoned with salt. He says, I indeed baptize you with water under repentance, but he who is coming after me is mighty than I, whose sandals are not worthy to carry. He who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit, and fire. So, yes, that's got a dual meaning, because, yes, we will be tested and tried, but there will be a final fire, which is the Gyanah fire, that those that are chaff will be burnt out.

Indeed, Jesus Christ will sort the wheat from the chaff, as we heard in the sermonette. And that is a long process, a lifetime process for us. We are being tested, so that we may be approved. In the sermonette we saw 1 Peter 4. I want to go there as well. 1 Peter 4, verse 12 and 13. I want to touch on this point. 1 Peter 4, verse 12 and 13. He says, Beloved, do not think it's strange, concerning the fiery trial. We will be having tests. There will be some of them rather difficult, rather challenging. Some of us will have a very big fiery trial one day. Maybe it will be a health issue, but will purify us. We don't know. God knows. Which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice, to the extent that you partake of Christ's suffering, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

There is some good news. It's because it's purifying us like gold, so that we may be glorified, so that we may be in the kingdom, so that we may become incorruptible. And so now we're being seasoned with salt, with a degree of incorruptibility, but the final incorruptibility will come when we are changed. Look at another statement here of Christ on this topic, which is in Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12 verse 49 and 50. This is two verses that many people don't fully grasp. Difficult to understand, but let's go to them to Luke chapter 12 verse 49 and 50.

I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it would already be kindled.

Christ says He's come to send fire on earth, and now He wishes that it would already be burning. He's eager to get this process completed. But I have a baptism to be baptized with, that's His own death, He's got to go through, and now the stress I have, till it is accomplished. So Christ is eager to get this process completed.

What is this fire on earth that is going to come? That's the final judgment that will burn the chaff. That's that Vienna fire that will come right at the end, and He's looking forward to that getting over, so that new heavens and new earth can exist on earth.

Second Peter, the Apostle Peter discusses that period in 2 Peter chapter 3.

Starting in verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.

And you and I quite often and quite correctly refer to the day of the Lord as that last year before Christ's coming. But now He expands that day of the Lord to a thousand years, with His God, a jewel meaning in here, all the way till the end of the thousand years. Look at this. For the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and at the end of that period of Christ's intervention on earth, so it's not just that first beginning day, but in that whole period, this is in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise. When is that? That's after the millennium. That's after at the end of the hundred years. If it is a hundred years, we believe it. So at the end of all that, when it says, yeah, when the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt to further heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burnt up. And Christ is willing for words to that, because beyond that, we're going to have a new heaven and new earth, where He righteousness dwells.

This is therefore verse 11. Since all these things will be dissolved, and this is the lesson for you and I, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? What manner of people we have to change, to be seasoned with salt, to change, to change our lives, to change our thinking, to clean ourselves inside? We really have a lot to do now. What manner of persons we ought to be in holy conduct and godness and behaving like God, looking for and acing the coming of the day of the Lord, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. There will be no more filth and dirt and evil in the new heaven, heavens and the new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved Rev. 14, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace without spot and blameless. We ought to be the salt of the earth. That final judgment is coming, and you and I are to be putting on being salted, seasoned with salt, and putting that on. And going back to Mark 9, Mark 9, Mark 9, where we were a little while ago, verse 49.

Mark 9, verse 49.

For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Yes, we'll be tested, we'll be proved by fire, but we need to be seasoned with salt and be putting more and more in corruptibility, in other words, more and more holy conduct in our lives.

Verse 50. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, it's salt preserves, purifies, and adds flavor. God's children are to be like salt. We are to maintain those purifying and preserving qualities in our behavior and conduct through the power of God's Holy Spirit. But it says, if the salt loses its flavor, if we lose it, and we become insipid, tasteless to God, how will you season the earth? And how will you season the salt? How will you season yourself? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another. And going back to Luke, verse 14. Luke, verse 14. Verse 34 and 35. Luke, verse 14. Verse 44 and 45.

Take a part in here. 34 and 35. Luke 14, 34 and 35. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how will it be seasoned? It is not a foot for the land, nor for the downhill. But man will throw it out, and he will have a year-to-year living year. You know, if we lose the flavor, which we are supposed to have in God's church, if we get contaminated, God can't reuse us now. How can we get contaminated? How can we lose our flavor? Maybe we stop living God's ways. Maybe we stop praying, and studying, and fasting, and meditating. Maybe we come rich and increased with goods, and the snares of the world catch us, and we have no time. We are too busy for God. Maybe we just get tired, and we get lackadaisal, and we don't see the importance of God's way.

Maybe there are wrong friends, and wrong influences that affect us. Maybe some people get involved with things that they should not get involved with Ouija boards, and I don't know what else. Maybe they allow wrong thoughts, and watch and listen, wrong things, or wrong ideas. Or maybe they become self-righteous, or arrogant and proud. We've got to be careful, Brethren. We've got to be careful. Look at what the Old Testament closes with in Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3, the last book of the Old Testament, in a way, our Bible is structured today. Malachi chapter 3, starting verse 13.

Your words have been harsh against me. That's the people I'm complaining.

Says the Lord, yet you say, what have we spoken against you? You know, people say, well, God is hard. God's way is difficult. And say, we've done nothing wrong. And God is punishing America and giving us trials that we shouldn't have. And we're such good people. And therefore, people inside, verse 14, you've said, it's useless to serve God. What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance? And that we have waltzed mourners before the Lord of hosts. And so people start saying, oh, well, let's just be arrogant. Let's just be proud. Let's do weakness as we want. They even tempt God and go free. You see, that's the way the wall is going. People are just losing the value with God and just turning to God and saying, what's it all worth? Why even go to church? Then verse 16, Then thou who feared the Eternal spoke to one another, and God listened, because they were salt to God. They were the salt of the earth. And God listened and heard. So a book of remembrance was written before God, before Him. For thou who fear the Eternal and who meditate in His name.

We want to be part of that group, don't we? And we talk often to one another, and God is pleased with that.

And He says, they shall be mine. On the day that I'll make my jewels, I'll spare them. That's a very encouraging Scriptures there. But look then at chapter 4. For the all the day is coming, burning like an oven. And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly, will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up. And we saw that, that fire will come. Says the Lord of Oz, that I'll leave them neither root nor branch. But to you, fear my name. The Son of righteousness will arise, which is Jesus Christ, with healing in His wings, and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet. And that's that final judgment. That's that final judgment. On the day that I do this, says the Lord, Remember the law of Moses, my servant, which I have commanded him in horror for all Israel, with the statues and judgments. Behold, I'll send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. We are the salt of the earth, and because of that, we, God's church, we will be instrumental. We are in God, preserving the world from destruction.

So, brethren, let's keep in mind that we are the salt of the earth. So let's go back to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. We read verse 13, and we are not to lose that flavor. But now let's look at verse 14. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. We are to be the light of the world. Now it does not say earth, it says world, cosmos, of society, of the human family. You are, again. It's our job, it's our profession, it's our obligation to fulfill this responsibility. And so, as we look at the world, there's more science, there's more technology, and where are we going with all this? Excuse me, just let me get on my nose quickly. Where are we going with all this? Is the world getting better? Now, we're getting into more and more darkness, in more trouble, and into more corruption. We, as a society, as a world, we're getting further and further away from a loving God, and from our neighbor.

You know, when people are in darkness, they think they know God's word, but they don't. In fact, some people think, well, if I'm the light of the world, people are going to like me.

Is it true? If I'm the light of the world, if I'm really nice, if I'm going to really be nice to people, more people come to church. Is it true? If I'm patient, if I'm kind and loving, more people see my good example and be converted. Is it true? Look at John 3, 19-21. John 3, 19-21. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world. You know, as Christ came into the world, there's light. And man loves darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Men do not love the light.

That's why we hate it. Because their deeds are evil. Why? Because the light exposes their deeds. And that's why we hate it. Because their deeds are evil. Why? Because the light exposes their deeds. And when we expose their deeds, they don't want to be exposed. See, for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest these deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

Do you remember when we covered the Beatitudes? We talked about, in a sense, they build one upon another. Remember in Matthew 5, the lost, the attitude. I actually said that was not necessarily a good attitude, but it was more than an outcome of the previous attitudes. Because it says, blessed are those who are persecuted, for righteousness sake. That's not a good attitude to have, being persecuted. That's an outcome of having the beautiful attitudes before. And because of that, because of you applying, becoming more God-like, putting more God's righteousness and mercy and walking in faith and being a peacemaker, then you're persecuted. You see, because you are now the light, and the world hates the light, so they're persecuted, for righteousness sake.

How good a light are we? How good a light are you? Are you a solid light, or a flickering light? Kind of annoying, isn't it? A flickering light? How good a light are we? Are we doing a good job, or are we failing in our job, like a flickering light? We need to analyze ourselves and ask God through His grace and mercy and kindness, that we can become more humble and more and more in need, teachable, that we hunger Him first for His righteousness, that we're merciful, we're pure in heart, and we're peacemakers, those beautiful attitudes, so that we can be a better light.

Indeed, we have to be better and better light as time goes on. But are we the light that is set on a hill? Look at Matthew chapter 5, right there where you probably are, Matthew chapter 5. It says, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Are we today that ultimate light that is set on a hill? I'll leave that thought for a moment and let's look a little bit about the world's conditions today in Isaiah 59. And I'll come back to that thought in Isaiah as we read Isaiah. So let's go to Isaiah 59 verse 9.

And here we look at the world's condition today. I mean, if you can't see this in today's world, I'll be surprised, because I think we all see it. It says, therefore justice is far from us. You know, we just have to look around. There's no justice. Justice is far from us. Nor does righteous and self-vertakers. We look for light, but there's darkness. This wall, it's just terrible. I mean, just yesterday afternoon we saw what we heard of a shooting.

Some guy that is, you know, something missing in his brain, just whatever, and he goes, gets to the checkout luggage at an airport in Fort Lauderdale, takes a guy and just shoots people. And it was a vet. I mean, what a terrible thing. You know, we look for light, but there's darkness. For brightness, but we walk in blackness. We grope like the wall. I beg your pardon.

We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble at Monday as at night. We are as dead men in desolate places. We all grow, grow like bears and mounds sadly like doves. We look for justice, but there's none. We look for salvation, but it's far from us. Oh yeah, we think somebody, a new leader, or whatever, he's going to bring us salvation. No. Only Christ will bring us salvation.

For our transgressions, it's multiplied before us. And our sin testifies against us. Our iniquities are. And for our iniquities, as we know them, in transgressing and lying against the eternal, and departing from our God-speaking operation, revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. You know what we call that today? Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. You know what we call that today? Spinning. That's what it is. There are people spinning their own story. They're conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

That's what it is. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off. Truth is fallen in the street. I mean, the leadership of this wall, of this country, of all... it's just full of lies and corruption. So truth fails, and even departs from evil, makes himself a prey.

It's not going to get any better forever. It's going to get far worse. It's going to get far worse. It's going to blow up in our faces. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased him, that there was no justice. And so there was no man, and I wondered how there was no intercessor. Therefore his own right arm, in other words, the Lord's own right arm, brought salvation for him. In other words, the Lord himself, Christ, came to earth to bring a salvation. And his own righteousness is sustained him. And look a little bit further down, in verse 20.

The Redeemer will come to Zion. That's Christ. The Redeemer will come to earth, to the area where Jerusalem is today. And he says, And those who turn from the transgression of Jacob, and to those who turn from the transgression in Jacob, says the Lord. As for me, says the Lord, this is my covenant with them, my Spirit, who is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants, descendants, says the Lord, from this time forward.

So Christ is going to come. But now look at the next verse. And he says, chapter 60, verse 1, Arise, shine. Arise. That means the resurrection. Does dead in Christ will arise? Those that are living with us will be changed to spirit beings, and will shine. With God's glory, with Christ's glory. For your light has come, and the glory of the Eternal is risen upon you. In other words, the light that we will ultimately have at that time will be far greater than now.

He says, your light has come. Sure, it's Christ that has come. But, you know, the light has come. It's dual meaning, yeah? And we are changed, we are glorified, we start shining. The glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people. That the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. We as true Christians then resurrected will have God's glory upon us. It's none of us. We're nobody. We can't do anything. We can't. We've got to pray and ask God for His power and strength, because by ourselves we can do nothing. And it says, the Gentiles will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Look at verse 3 and verse 4. Lift up your eyes all around and see, they all gather together, they come to you. Your son shall come from afar off, and your daughter shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you. The wealth of Gentiles shall come to you.

That is when you will be a light to the wall set upon a hill, which will be the kingdom of God. And that's when we'll ultimately be that ultimate light.

So yes, we are a light to the world today.

But you know, we're not on a hill. We're in a valley. We're in a dark valley in this world, where when Christ comes back and the kingdom is established, and he raises up and puts it there as examples as his children, and the Christ to serve the world will be a light to the world.

So continue in Matthew 5 then, please. Matthew 5, we were reading verse 14, the second part of verse 14. You're a light to the world, of the world, a city that is set on an hill cannot be hidden. Yes, you and I have a responsibility to do that today. But the ultimate, the pinnacle of that is still prophetic. Because it says, nor do they light a lamp and put it under the basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before man that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. That ultimate glorification will only come when? In the future.

Because people will say that, oh, now I understand why you were so different.

And it will then be a real light. Look at Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5.

Starting in verse 8. Ephesians 5 verse 8. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light. We have a responsibility now to put on that light, to walk in that light.

Sure, as I said, ultimately that will be the ultimate light to come. But in the meantime, we do have a responsibility and we do have to be a light to the world. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord, and have no fellowship with the fruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.

For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light. For whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore, it says, Wake, awake, you will sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. That's our job, Reverend. We've got to really put on this light.

We must not have any unfruitful works. We have to have and do what's pleasing to God. Look a bit further in Ephesians 6. Verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. That's God's Holy Spirit. Put on the full, the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Brethren, Satan is angry and he's going to be angrier and angrier with you and I and with God's church. And he's going to try and attack us. We've got to put on the whole armor of God now. There's no time to waste. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against positions of authority in the spirit world, against the rulers of darkness of this age, not of light, of darkness, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.

This is serious stuff, brethren. Very serious. And so then he describes seven points of how to stand against the wiles of Satan in the evil day. Pursuing truth, fighting for the truth. Don't sin. Don't sin in the words of the breastplate of righteousness. Walk in the way of making peace, being a peacemaker.

Walk in God's way. Have faith, believe in God and Christ and His power, the power of God. Walk in faith. Protect your mind. Put the helmet of salvation. Protect your mind with the hope of our salvation. We've got to put a shield around our minds because there's doubts that are going to come in. And then he talks about the sixth part of a point, which is the only offensive one, which is God's Bible, which is God's Word, which is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Bible, which is God's Word.

When I was in Brazil and I was encountering a situation there, I called for the Bible. And once we read the Bible, God intervened. The sword of the Spirit. It's not me. It's nobody. It's God's sword. And it's the Lord that rebukes and reproves and does the work, not us. And the seventh point is pray. Pray in all ways, with all prayer.

Pray, keep close to God, communicate with God through prayer and Bible study and meditation and occasional fasting. We have to be close to God. And then, as the Apostle John said in 1 John 1, 1 John 1, verse 5-7, says, And this is the message which you heard from the beginning. And I declare to you that God is light. In him is no darkness at all. If we say we are fellowship with him, with God, and walking darkness, we lie. And do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we are fellowship with one another.

And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from whole sin. Look in chapter 2, same book, chapter 2, verse 9-11. He says, He who loves his brother abides in the light, and is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. When darkness blinds you, usually, you know, very bright lights, they blind you. But when darkness blinds you, that's very strong darkness, deep darkness. So, brethren, we need to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. We need to seek God's grace. The question is, are we the salt of the earth?

Are we being a preservative, or are we contaminated by the earth? Are we pleasing God? Are we the light of this world? Are we a light to the society, to human family? Are we walking in light or in darkness?