First book of the New Testament, Matthew chapter 5. You say, preacher, I thought you were in the book of Revelation. I am, but not today. Today is a day that we're going to have a special day to really recognize our families. School starts this week. Aren't you glad you're not in school if you're old enough to be out of school? I'll tell you. As I think about school, I'm glad I'm not going. I'm glad I don't have to worry about taking tests, doing homework, all of that other stuff. But we wanna pray for those kiddos that are taking those tests and doing homework and pray for their families. And may God help us in a very rich way today. Matthew chapter 5, I'd like to read a few verses. I'm going to go ahead and focus on one particular verse, but I want to begin here in verse number 13, Matthew 5, verse 13. The Bible says, Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost its savor, 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 it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. I want you to focus here on the first verse that I read, number 13, and notice this phrase again. Ye are the salt of the earth. The title of the message here today is The Significance of Something Insignificant. Let's pray together. Lord, I ask that you would just calm our hearts, our spirits right now. May we not focus on what we may have for lunch, what may go on this afternoon, the duties of this week. I pray that you would cause our attention to focus right now on the preaching of the word of God. There's value in the preaching of the Bible. Number one, because you're ordained it to be so, but number two, because the word of God has the answers for every bit of life. And so, Lord, help us to take to heart, obey that which you ask of us, and we thank you again for these moments. In Jesus' precious name, amen. On October 2nd, 1864, one of the worst battles of the American Civil War was fought. There's 2,800 Confederate soldiers that squared off against 4,500 Union soldiers. The battle is actually forever recorded in American history as one of the worst atrocities that ever occurred on American soil. After a day of intense fighting, shots continued throughout the night muffling the cries of wounded Union soldiers. sometime after the battle, an eyewitness testified to the wholesale slaughter that had occurred that night. In fact, here's what he reported. He told about a particular renegade Confederate soldier that had walked up to a Union soldier that was laying there. This soldier's name was Crawford Hazelwood. And he asked him if he wanted to be shot in the face or in the back. Well, unable to move, pleading for his life, Hazelwood was shot in the face at close range. Now you say to yourself, what was such the intensity of even the skirmishes at nighttime, and what was it about this particular battle? People would often think, well, there was great strategic value to the area, or maybe there was a hope of ending the war a bit sooner, were the reasons that this intense battle was fought. But none of those had anything to do with this particular battle. The reason the battle was fought was for a mineral. The mineral that was fought for in this battle was salt. One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War was fought over Saltville, Virginia, the largest supplier of salt to the Confederate Army. Now, how could salt be that valuable? It's estimated that 40 million tons are required each year to fill our needs. In ancient Greece, there was a far-flung trade involving the exchange of salt for slaves, and it gave rise to the expression, he's not worth his salt. Special salt rations were given to Roman soldiers, which was known as Salarium Argentums, which became the forerunner of the English word, salary. Thousands of Napoleon's troops died during his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal from a lack of salt. The human body contains about four ounces of salt. Without enough of it, your muscles will contract, your blood will not circulate, the food will not digest, and the heart will not beat. Without a doubt, salt is the essence of life. And yet, is it not interesting that Jesus said, ye are the salt of the earth? Think with me for just a moment here this morning, how important it is for you and I to be the salt of the earth. Jesus asked these disciples and those that were gathered to hear this message For them to be the salt of the earth and that message rings out all the way to our day today That in this dark morally distraught day that we live in that you and I are to be the salt of the earth and In essence, what Jesus is asking of us is to have some influence with others, because salt will influence that which it touches. Today, we're honoring and having a special word of prayer for our families and our children. I think about all of our children that are going back into the schools and will be undertaking tests and homework and all the things that will be part of school. I think of teachers today that will be going back. They've already been back for in-service and they'll be back to their regular schedules. I think of moms and dads today. And I think of all of these groups of people and all of you that are here. that you have an influence in your neighborhood, you have an influence in your workplace, you have an influence amongst your family. Jesus said that you and I are to be the salt of the earth, and yet it's in a day of moral destruction and moral decay. You know, today is just an odd day that we live in. Those of you that are here today that are probably over 50 years old, you think to yourself, how in the world did we come to this type of day that we live in? It's a very dark day spiritually. But I want you to know that how dark it may seem and how morally destructive our world is around us, this is the day that God has ordained for us to be here. And the darker things get spiritually, the brighter the light of the gospel shines. As you live for Jesus in your neighborhood, As you share the good news, as you just, you're that salt and that light around those that are in your places of service, I want to tell you, that light shines bright in the midst of darkness. Now, yes, we live in a day that is a weird day. There's confusion today about sexual identity. There's carelessness about the life of a baby. There's calamity in our cities, resulting in violence all over. Everywhere you look, there's deception, betrayal, and hurts of all kinds. But I want you to know that Jesus has saved you to be the salt in the midst of these days. You know what's amazing? I look at this Matthew passage that gives us the Sermon on the Mount. three chapters here, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, a sermon that Jesus preached. And it's a sermon that Jesus preached to let us know that God has come to save you, it is through Jesus, and that he's given you the ability and the power to live a life that is distinct from this world. Now to me, as I summarize this Sermon on the Mount, I think here about being a Christian, and I think about how Jesus has saved me. I sure would have loved for Jesus to have saved me, and the moment I said amen after saying the sinner's prayer, that he took me home to heaven. Wouldn't that have been nice? I don't know, some of you have been saved for a long time, and it sure would be nice for all these years to be enjoying being in the presence of God all this time, but God left you here. And he left you here so you could influence people around you. God saved you so you could be the light around you. God saved you so you could influence and be the salt of the earth. Think what Jesus did for us. He did save you from this culture. Oh, how I'm glad today how Jesus saved me. I'm glad that if I was the only one alive today, Jesus would have died for me. But I'll tell you, you can be included today because John 3, 16 says, for God so loved the world. That includes you. Jesus loved you, and he died on the cross that you could have salvation, and he saved you from this culture. I think of people today that are just like, they're being herded into the philosophy of this world, and they're following everything of this world. But I wanna tell you, Jesus saved you, not just so you could go to heaven, but he saved you from this culture, and yet he left you here. He left you here so you could make a difference. Could I ask you this? In your family, amongst those that are unsaved, are you making a difference? In your neighborhood, do people know that you're a Christian? amongst your peers, amongst those whom you work, do they know that there's something different about you? If they don't know that you're the salt of the earth and the light of the world, then somehow you're muffling the message. God has given you the ability and the power to rise above this culture to live for Jesus Christ. And it is imperative that you make a decision to do it. Now there's a couple of things with regards to salt, being the salt of the earth, that really strike me about making a difference for the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to give those three things to you. Number one, I want you to note that salt is a little ingredient that can accomplish a lot of good. It's a little ingredient that can accomplish a lot of good. In other words, if you're the salt of the earth, do you know that you can accomplish some good? Now, when you sit down at the dinner table today, you might grab that salt shaker, and you might put some salt in. Let me just tell you, a little salt can go a long way. Now, I've been with some of you. You think a lot of salt goes a lot of way. And it's not good for you. Now, I'm not a medical doctor, but I'm telling you that a little salt can enhance your food and can do a lot of good. To think that this little mineral can make such a difference is incredible. And yet for you and I, who are likened to be the salt of the earth, you and I are small in this world. Yet the power of God in us can make all the difference in the world. Think with me for just a moment. Here's Jesus meeting with his disciples and a group of people on the backside of a mountain, and he's preaching to them. Jesus wasn't preaching to the top 100 CEOs of the world at that time. Jesus wasn't preaching to those who had made Forbes magazine for being some of the richest people. Jesus wasn't preaching to people who had become world famous. He was preaching to fishermen and tax collectors and people that were of no significance. And yet, he said to them, you are the salt of the earth. you can make a difference. And you know what? As those disciples went out, some years later, I love the way some unsaved man in the book of Acts said, these men have turned the world upside down. You know why? Because a little bit of salt can make a big difference. And you may be saying to yourself today, pastor, I'm a nobody. I really, I don't have education. I haven't really amounted to a whole lot. I haven't done a whole lot. Can I tell you something? Whether you think you are something or nothing, whether you have anything or nothing, or whether you think you can do something or not, God says you're the salt of the earth. You're in the right place for God to use you. He said, well, how can I make a difference in this world? How can I influence this society that seems to be going so headlong into the immorality and the sinful areas? Can I tell you something? God just wants you to stand out and just to live for him day by day. He'll show you every single day. You know, think of some examples for just a moment. In Matthew chapter 10, verse number 42, Jesus talked about that if you were to give a cup of cold water in his name, you'll make a difference. Now, many of us don't think that a cup of cold water is gonna make a whole lot of difference, don't you? If somebody were to ask for something to drink, you might say to them, well, how about some sweet tea? Or how about some lemonade? Or how about something else? But I want to tell you, Jesus said, if you give a cup of cold water in his name, you will make a difference. Could I remind you of that little boy one day? that got caught by one of the disciples and here he's coming and in his basket is a couple of fish and a few loaves of bread and yet they took it and Jesus used those few items to feed thousands. Now when they came to that little boy and said, What do you got? What do you got in the basket? The disciples are trying to scrounge up anything they can. And the boy said, well, I got a couple of fish and a few loaves. And so they go back to Jesus and the disciples do. And well, we met a boy over there. He's got a couple of fish and a few loaves. And we haven't met anybody else with any other food. And Jesus said, that'll be enough. And I can imagine the disciples scratching their heads saying, well, wait a minute. Look at all these people here. They're hungry. And Jesus said, go bring those items. And as Jesus began breaking the bread, those disciples had enough to get to those thousands of people, and yet they had left over every one of them. You know what it's telling me? Jesus can make a difference with just something little and what we think is insignificant. And so you today, I want to remind you of something that Paul said this, that when we are weak, then He is strong. Because you say to yourself, well, pastor, I just, you know, I can't speak like so-and-so, or I can't serve like this person, or I don't have the abilities of that person. I've not been educated. God's not looking for any of that. God's looking for you to say, here I am, use me. That's it. Just come before God, check in with God and say, I'm here, I'm willing to be used and God so desires to use you. Can I tell you this ministry here, this church ministry, we are looking for people to jump in at some of the greatest of places to make a difference. You know, we need greeters back there. You say, pastor, I can't be a greeter. Let me just tell you something. Being a greeter is one of the easiest things. Now I'm not belittling the people that are doing it, but it's easy. You want to know the requirements for being a greeter? Hand out a bulletin, smile, that's it. And I wanna tell you, there are people in this church right now who are here because there were greeters who smiled and who hugged them and who spent time with them, got to know their name. And I wanna tell you, being a greeter is a beautiful thing. We've just restarted the nursing home ministry. What a wonderful ministry to be able to go into the nursing homes and to be able to be with those people who can't make it to church like you and I can. Now some of you have had surgeries and have been out of church for a period of time. You know what it's like to miss church, don't you? Imagine realizing that the rest of your life, whatever God has, that you're stuck and you really cannot get out. How wonderful it is to be able to take church to these people. What a beautiful opportunity. There's opportunities in our children's ministry and teen ministry. I'm excited to be able to share with you. I've sent out an email that we're going to be expanding our children's ministry. Our children's Sunday school is expanding. Our children's meetings on Sunday night, we're going to be opening up a children's program during our evening service. And there is opportunity for you to influence. God's doing great things in our teen ministry. And I want to tell you, when I think of our children and our teen, I think of the opportunity that we can influence these youngsters for the cause of Christ. I remember when I first came here six years ago, if we had any children, it was because one of our grandmothers in our midst had their grandkids were down visiting. That was about it. We had no kids. In fact, I remember the question and answer, I was standing right down here and one of the gentlemen asked me, they said, pastor, what are you gonna do to bring in children to this place? And I thought, well, I don't know. I mean, we're gonna pray, we're gonna work hard. And I'll tell you what, God over the course of time has been bringing in children and bringing in families. And what an opportunity to influence these young people for the sake of the gospel. When a young person receives Christ as Savior, there's no greater joy. When a teenager gives his heart to Christ, last Sunday night, those of you who missed it, I'm so sorry, but we had three teenagers that stood in this pulpit and shared a testimony of what God did in their life during the course of camp. And what a powerful thing to be able to influence. So I wanna tell you something, salt is a little ingredient that can accomplish a great amount of good. When I think about being able to accomplish a lot of good, I think about one of the great missionaries, William Carey. William Carey pastored a very small congregation in England. In fact, he had preached a message and it was titled this, Expect Great Things From God, Attempt Great Things For God. When Cary had preached that message, it began to reverberate throughout the church. People began to remember that sermon and were influenced by that sermon in a tremendous way. And it began to even work in Cary's heart in a wonderful way. In fact, William Carey became burdened for the heathen that were around the world and thought to himself, well, how can I make a difference? I'm not really that educated. I don't have a lot going on. But he began to keep thinking over this phrase, attempt great things for God, expect great things from God. And he began to pray about going to be a missionary. One day at a preacher's meeting, he stood up, and it was a whole group of Baptists that were there, and he began to share his burden for reaching the heathen, and one older pastor looked at Kerry and said, young man, sit down. You are not, you are an enthusiast. When God decides to convert the heathen, he'll do it without you and I. Now it's hard for us to fathom that there would be a group of Baptists that would be like that, but at that time, they had no inkling of getting the gospel out to the heathen. But Cary went to his dad and began to talk to his father. He began to share with him his burden about going, getting the gospel to the lost around the world. And his father even discouraged him. He said, look, William, he said, you know, you don't have much of an education. You don't have much to offer. And William realized, I may not have much to offer, but God has called me to go. And when William Carey finally set out to India, He went there and it's amazing what he did. He began a manufacturing plant to help hire the jobless that were there. He helped translate the Bible and in fact set up print shops to print that Bible and employed some of those people. He provided medical assistance for those who were diseased and aged. When he lay a dying, here it is, William Carey said these words, when I have gone, speak not of Carey, but of Carey's savior. And I wanna tell you something, you can make a difference through this church, in this community, not because of you, but if you yield yourself to God, God can use you. So you realize you can accomplish a lot of good. But number two, salt is a little ingredient that can hold back a great amount of evil. You and I as believers can hold back evil. Now salt in days gone by had a greater value than it does to us today. Salt acted as a preservative to keep meat and fish from decaying since there was no refrigeration in years gone by. And is it not interesting that Jesus said, you and I are the salt of the earth? That is, you and I act as the preservative, if you will, in this evil generation. This is what the church is all about. This is what our job as believers is to hold back evil. And please notice that Jesus made the statement that you're the salt of the earth. He did not phrase it in the form of a question. In other words, would you pretty please consider being the salt of the earth? No, no, Jesus made the statement. You are the salt of the earth. The church, the believer, is a mechanism, the means, the mineral that God uses to keep and hold back evil. And yet far too many Christians are silent about their relationship with Jesus Christ. Too many Christians are quiet when it comes to standing up for truth and morality. It grieves me when I hear many born-again believers who will say, well, this is what they believe and that's okay, or this is their way of living. My friend, I wanna tell you something. It is imperative that you and I stand up for the Bible. Stand up for the Bible. Now, we're finding more and more in this day that the times that we live in, if I can put it in this way, is separating the men from the boys. It really is. The line is being drawn very clearly. And it behooves every one of us to decide where are we gonna place ourselves? You know what too many Christians are doing? They're trying to live with one foot in the world and they're trying to live one foot with God. I want to tell you, you cannot do that. You can't. You have to make your decision. And many of you are being forced to make that decision. And I want to encourage you to give your all to Jesus Christ and to stand for truth. Young people that are in here today, When your friends and your classmates begin talking against the Bible and against Jesus Christ, stand up for Jesus! And you know what? Some adults have a hard time standing up for Jesus. Some dirty joke is told at a party that you're at, and you just laugh and go along with them. some evil activity goes on, something is being shown on the television, and you just condone it by watching it. I wanna tell you something, it is high time that we have believers who are the salt of the earth and stand for the morals and the right things of the word of God. Now you say, preacher, you're just an old-fashioned born Christian that just kinda believes some of that old stuff of the Bible. Hey, the Bible works today, my friend. This book doesn't change. This book that was given years ago, which many people say, oh, that Bible's outdated, it doesn't mean anything today. I wanna tell you, it is as relevant today as it was back then. In 50 years, if Jesus tarries and things get changed and they get worse, and I wanna tell you, the Bible is still true. It's imperative that we live today. Because you know, there's coming a day soon when the rapture's gonna take place, and then, as we've been talking in the book of Revelation, all hell is gonna break loose on this earth. It's gonna be amazing what takes place in those tribulation days. But you and I are here today to be able to hold back that evil. I wanna encourage you, stand against abortion. I wanna encourage you today to stand against all of the stuff that they're trying to throw in the curriculum of our schools. I wanna encourage you to stand for truth and what is right. Because if Christians won't stand for what is right and what is true and biblical, who will? It's time for us to stand. Now, I'm not saying stand and be ugly about it. I've met a lot of people that are ugly about it. They got this frowny face, and it's almost as if they stand against that which is evil, they have to have a frowny face. But I want to tell you something, you can have the joy of the Lord and still stand against that which is wrong. You can be a courageous Christian and yet still have the power of God behind you. And I wanna encourage you today to do that which is right. But thirdly, I wanna give you this, and that is salt is a little ingredient that can heal wounds. You can help bring healing to other people. You know, the ancient remedy for open wounds was to pour salt in them. In a physical sense, salt that goes into any open wound is definitely irritating, but it's helpful. In the spiritual sense, any person that is cut to the quick by sin needs the remedy of a salty Christian. Why? Because the Word of God and the testimony of a Bible-believing Christian is what can help Now, I spoke in the second point for just a moment about how we need to stand up against the evils of this day. But I believe that this point here in bringing healing to people goes hand in hand with that point number two. Because it's very easy for many churches and many Christians to define what they're against. But it's a whole nother thing for Christians to come down right where people are and help them. Now I wanna tell you something. I mentioned earlier in our message, I am dead set against all the sexual terminology that is being used today. all the things that they're confusing our young people and adults alike with, well, you must be this if you think this, and you must be this way. I want to tell you something. God made two, a male and female, and that's it. And I stand with that, and I don't try to argue with people to a great extent. I don't get upset about it. But I stand with the Bible, that God's Word is true, despite what this world is doing to confuse people. But I want to tell you something. As strong as I am in holding against these sinful actions, and against all of this that's going on, I trust that I and Calvary Baptist will be the first to help people that are looking for help. Do you understand what I mean by that? It's very easy for us to go, oh, tsk, tsk, tsk, shame on you for getting involved in that activity. I can't fellowship with you, I'm so sorry, I gotta stay away from you. But I tell you, when they start struggling, it's upon us to go and help them. Who's gonna lead them to truth and righteousness? Who's gonna lead them to Jesus but a born again Christian? A Christian who stands, yes, on the Word of God, but who comes and helps to bring healing. Oh, how important it is to bring healing. I want to help people wherever I can. I want to befriend people. I want to share with people the good news of Jesus Christ, because I believe the Bible, the Gospel, in it has all the answers for humanity. And so therefore, I come to bring healing. You come to bring healing. I want you to look at verse number 13, and I want you to notice this verse. Because I said earlier, it's a decision you have to make to be the salt of the earth. But notice what he says here, ye are the salt of the earth. What's the next word? But, so now there's some type of condition here. If the salt has lost its savor, wherewith it shall it be salted? That is, the salt is not effective anymore. It doesn't change or alter that which it touches. So if it's lost its saltiness, how is it gonna get its flavor again? And Jesus said, if that happens, it's good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the feet of men. If I don't make an impact, in other words, if I've lost my saltiness, Jesus kind of put it that I'm good for nothing. only good to be cast out and trodden down by the feet of men. The days of Jesus, there in the land of Palestine, the Dead Sea had become the primary source of salt. Now in those days, there were no modern methods of refining the salt, and therefore, the method, though very crude and insufficient as it was, would often mix together a lot of sand with some salt. So sometimes when the salt would be sold or it would be collected, there was found there a mixture of sand with the salt, and therefore that salt almost became worthless. And so as far as the people were concerned, it had lost its flavor because it mixed with the sand and therefore was good for nothing. And the best thing that they could do with that is just go ahead and cast it out. So I want to ask you today, have you lost your influence? Do you have an influence? Are you making a difference with those around you? That's why God left you here if you're saved. If you're saved today, yeah, it'd be nice to be in heaven, but God has left you here on this earth to make a difference. He's placed you in the very neighborhood that you're in. He's placed you in the work environment. He's placed you around all the different people. Every day you rub shoulders with different people to make a difference. And so I want to encourage you to think, first of all, that as a little ingredient, salt, you can make a difference. You don't have to be a preacher. You don't have to be a deacon. In fact, you'd probably be better off if you weren't a preacher or a deacon. But honestly, whatever lot in life you have, you can make a difference. And you can hold back evil. And you can accomplish a lot of good and bring healing to those that are searching for the truth of God's word. How powerful that is. There's a little story that's tucked away in the pages of Edward Gibbon's seven-volume work, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. There was a very insignificant, humble little monk named Telemachus living out in the regions of Asia, the farming regions. Telemachus had no ambitions in life. He just loved his little garden, tilled it through the changing seasons. But one year, 391, he felt a sense of urgency, a sense that God was calling him to do something big. He didn't know why, but he felt that God was calling him to leave Asia to go to Rome, which was the heart and soul of the empire. In fact, the feelings of such a call frightened him, but he went anyway, praying all the way for God's direction. When he got to the city of Rome, he found the whole city in an uproar. The armies of Rome had just come home from the battlefield in victory, and the crowds were turning out for a great celebration. They flowed through the streets like a tidal wave, and Telemachus was caught in the frenzy and was carried with that whole crowd right into the Colosseum. Well, there in the Colosseum was a gladiator contest. He had never seen one before. But as he began to watch this unplay, his heart was sickened. Down in that arena, men hacked at each other with swords and clubs. The crowds gave a huge roar at the sight of blood, and they urged their favorite gladiator on, and Telemachus couldn't stand it. He knew this was wrong. This wasn't the way God wanted people to live or die. So Telemachus began to make his way through the crowds, all the way down towards the arena, and all the way down, he kept saying, in the name of Christ, forbear, that is, forgive. He would shout this. Nobody heard him. But he kept making his way down towards the area where the fighting was going on, and he kept crying out, in the name of Christ, forbear! And he began to climb up on one of the columns, and he kept crying out, in the name of Christ, forbear! But nobody heard him. They kept cheering on these gladiators. He finally jumped into the arena and ran through the sands towards the gladiators, yelling these words, in the name of Christ forbear. The crowd saw this little monk walking out and running through the area and they laughed at him and they threw stones at him. And in fact, he got caught between two gladiators. And as they were going to cut each other with the swords, they began to hack at this little monk. And over the course of a few blows, they killed this monk, but not before his last words, in the name of Christ, forbear. After they watched him die, those gladiators looked at each other in amazement, and the final words that all of these people had heard and began to remember was, in the name of Christ, forbear. The crowds began to hush. And all of a sudden, at last, they began to move and slowly leave the Colosseum by growing numbers. The masses of Rome filed back out into the streets quietly with these words that were spoken in the name of Christ forbear. And it is said, history has recorded, that that was the last gladiator contest that was fought in the Colosseum. All because one man who was called to do something didn't know what, but he got wrapped up into this and he began to cry out for that which was right and just, and God used him even to his dying breath. Oh, may God help us to make a difference. Could you say this with me today? I'm gonna give you the phrase and then I want you to say it with me. I am the salt of the earth. Would you say it with me? I am the salt of the earth. Now I want you to make it personal. Would you do me a favor? Just humor me a little bit. I want you to point to yourself and say that phrase. Ready? I am the salt of the earth. Don't wait for the person next to you to make a difference. Don't think just everybody else in the church is going to do it. Let God use you right where you are.