Tuesday, April 30, 2013

“SIH’s Think On These Things: Mark 9:41-50 (9)”


Mark 9:41-50 (KJV)  For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.  Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

 

For this series we will use this very simple outline:

1.  vs 41-42 – Evidences of genuine salvation

2.  vs 43-48 – Importance of genuine salvation

3.  vs 49-50 – Absolute necessity of genuine salvation

 

In our final installment of this series we need to turn our attention to verse 50 of our text… 50) Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

 

In the previous verse (vs 49), we saw that salt was a picture of preservation… For those who are yet in their sins they are salted “with fire”, meaning they are preserved to face the eternal judgment of Almighty God.  For those who are salted “with salt” we find that those who have come to a saving faith in Christ are now preserved to spend an eternity in the very presence of God.

 

In verse 50, we find another use of salt, as a flavoring agent that enhances the taste of many foods.  We are told that salt is only good as a flavoring agent when it retains the characteristic flavor of salt.  If it were possible for salt to loose its flavor, it would taste no better than sand and would be used by no one.  This illustrates a believer’s need to be “salt” in the midst of a sin darkened world, if we are to make a useful contribution to those around us…

Matt 5:13 (KJV)  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

 

If, by God’s grace, we are no longer salted “with fire” but are now salted “with salt”, we have a very great responsibility before us.  We are to live as a “salted” one showing forth the love, grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ to all around us.  Why is this so important?  Not only is it a testimony of the Lord and His work in our lives, but it also opens the opportunity for the enhancement of the quality of life of all those around us.

 

In this series, we have looked at “evidences of genuine salvation”, “the importance of genuine salvation” and

“absolute necessity of genuine salvation”.  These verses have emphasized our need to make certain that we have been saved from the wrath to come.  1Thess 1:9-10 (KJV)  For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;   And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, [even] Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

 

Once we have made certain of our salvation, let us all be active in showing Christ to others and, in doing so, attempting to enhance the lives of all who come into contact with us. John 10:9-10 (KJV) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.

 

May the Lord bless us as we “Think On These Things”.

 




No comments:

Post a Comment