[0:00] as we turn to God's word let's pray together for a moment father we're so conscious that as we turn to your word now we do so in complete dependence on you we pray that Holy Spirit you'd be just at work in among us as we study your word that your word will be written on our hearts and that it would stay written on our hearts and shape everything that we do in Jesus name amen today tonight I'd like us to turn back to Matthew chapter 5 and we can think especially about the words we have in verses 13 to 16 you are the salt of the earth but if salt has lost its taste how shall its saltiness be restored it's no longer good for anything to be except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet you're the light of the world a city said and a hill cannot be hidden nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house in the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven I'm not sure what your own diaries look like for the week ahead but I suppose Sunday night is a good time to pull out your phone or your your diary whatever it is you use to see what the week is going to bring I'm sure it's probably a normal week for all of you I looked at my own diary just before the service and tomorrow well usually every Monday morning I'm just kind of tidying up the mess that is my email inbox and all the things that I didn't do last week and then tomorrow afternoon I have to go to a seminar about pertaining some people who are training for ministry tomorrow evening we have a Kirk session and then on Tuesday morning I have to give a talk on the law of God and Tuesday night I'll probably be watching football and then Wednesday I have to go to a meeting at ETS and so on and so on and in between all of that I'll be doing some things that I'll be doing some of the things that I'm studying but I was looking at my diary and it's all churchy stuff and I suppose that makes sense because I'm a minister and but pretty much everything in my diary apart from the Champions League is just to do with with church stuff and it's amongst Christians and it's a massive privilege for me to do that and to have to have that life don't ever let a minister come here and tell you that being a minister is a terrible job being a minister is an absolutely brilliant job but that's what my diary looks like but your diary probably says that you're going to be going to classes at school or at uni you're going to be going to work to an office or to a workshop or whatever it is you work maybe you'll be going to school maybe you'll be volunteering at the things you're committed to maybe you'll be meeting up with friends I'm pretty sure that for almost all of you tomorrow you are going to go and be among non-churchy things in other words you're going to be among people who desperately need to hear about Jesus and that makes your role so important because your contact with the world is far greater than mine is ever going to be I was an engineer before I became a minister and I had far more contact with people who weren't believers as an engineer than I do now as a minister that makes your role your life your week your diary so important in the work of God's
[4:09] kingdom and one of the crucial things that we want to do as Christians is make sure that we take our relationship with Jesus beyond Sunday into Monday and into the rest of the week all of it is a reminder that where you're going to be this week and what you're doing is incredibly important because that is where you are going to bear witness for Jesus and that's a really important part of being a Christian our witness the fact that people can look at us and listen to us and and their lives can be a testimony to the fact that we are following Jesus our witness is something that's really important but it's also something that we maybe find a wee bit difficult and it's that that I want us to think about tonight because that's what these words we have before us are all talking about they're talking about our witness as Christians it's all about our involvement with the world around us these verses come early in the chapters 5 6 and 7 of Matthew which are as I'm sure you know the sermon on the mount I don't know if I'm allowed to say that there are certain parts of the Bible that are more important than others and I think you'll know what I mean when I say that that that this really is one of the most important parts of the Bible if there's certain there's certain chapters certain sections of the Bible that you really want to know well and Matthew 5 6 and 7 is definitely one of those sections because here Jesus is talking about what life as a Christian should be like in many ways it's like a kind of training school for being a disciple and he touches on so many different things in terms of following him following him whether it's relationships whether it's what we do with our money whether it's our prayer life many many different things Jesus talks about and one of the things he talks about is our witness which is what's been said before us in verses 13 and 16 13 to 16 these verses come just after the very famous opening to the sermon amount which we call the Beatitudes which we read from verses 1 through to 12 and you've got this great kind of list of of characteristics that Jesus is looking for in his disciples you read through verses 4 3 to 11 and he talks about blessed are the poor in spirit those who mourn the meek those who hunger and thirst for righteousness the merciful this is the kind of characteristics that Jesus is looking for in his disciples and one of the things that's just amazing and so clear is that what Jesus is looking for is the opposite of what the world tends to admire and if you like the great message of the sermon on the mount is that disciples are to be different and so just to illustrate that I wanted to those of you who've maybe recently applied for jobs or who are going to be applying for jobs have you ever found a job advert where it says you know like qualifications and it'll say we want this person to be meek we want this person to be poor in spirit we want this person to hunger and thirst for righteousness we want this person to be merciful you never see that kind of stuff do you and yet that's what Jesus is looking for interestingly just to take an example I think that example of mercy is really interesting those of you who've maybe got into kind of a position of senior management um you ever seen an advert where it's like we've got an opening for uh chief executive or for senior manager we want someone who's merciful you don't ever see that do you but imagine you're working for someone and something goes really wrong
[8:11] what would a brilliant boss be in that situation he'd be merciful and it's so interesting what Jesus prioritizes is so different to the world and yet it's so much better these people who uh Jesus is calling into his kingdom uh there's a they are described by the same word that's repeated again and again they are blessed and Jesus lifts these extraordinary privileges uh which are Irish uh if we are his followers uh but that word blessed is a really important word uh in the bible um sometimes it's translated happy and so and I think that can be helpful because blessed is one of these words which you know what it means but you kind of it's impossible to explain what it means and so the word happy can be helpful but but I think the word blessed means much more than just happy and and sometimes actually uh you don't necessarily feel happy but yet you're still blessed and I think the key emphasis behind this word is that it's just summarizing the fact that that we enjoy certain extraordinary privileges when we are in a relationship with God and that points us all the way back to the chapter that we read the we read from Genesis where God came to Abraham and he says to him go from your country and from your your kindred and from your father's house and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and so at the heart of uh of God's dealings with Abraham is the fact that he's going to bless him and his descendants with all sorts of extraordinary privileges and and uh working through the storyline of scripture the ultimate fulfillment of that is that we share in those same blessings uh through faith in Jesus you see that in Galatians it has no then those who are of faith who are the sons of Abraham uh the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the gentiles by faith preached the gospel before him saying to him in you all the nations shall be blessed so then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith so you've got this great theme of being blessed that from Abraham right through the Old
[10:38] Testament into the New Testament fulfillment of all of the Old Testament foreshadowed uh now for all those who come to faith in Jesus they all have one great thing in common they are blessed they enjoy many extraordinary privileges um and benefits and they're listed by Jesus theirs is the kingdom of heaven they will be comforted they will inherit the earth they will be filled they will be shown mercy they will see God and so on and so on there's this extraordinary fact that as Christians uh we are blessed and that's so true but that's not the only thing that Genesis 12 says about blessing it says very clearly to Abraham you and your descendants will be blessed but it goes a step further not only will Abraham and his descendants be blessed they are also going to be a blessing to the world I'll make you a great nation I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing I'll bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed and that was a key part of what Israel in the Old Testament was meant to be they enjoyed many many blessings that their unique status brought but they were always meant to be a blessing to others a light to all the other nations as well and so you've got this pattern in the Old Testament where Abraham and his descendants they're going to be blessed but they're also going to be a blessing to others in the Sermon on the Mount
[12:21] Jesus is describing life in the new Israel in his kingdom just like the old Israel had 12 tribes he's chosen 12 disciples here he's talking to them and to his other followers he's establishing the new Israel and exactly the same principle applies as disciples we are immensely blessed but as disciples we are also to be a blessing to the world and that's why I think that immediately after the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 where we have all the blessings that we receive Jesus goes straight on to talk about the impact that we are to have on the world we are to be a blessing and that blessing that we are to be to the world is described with two very vivid vivid images we are to be like salt and we are to be like a light and here we discover the fundamental truths that lie at the heart of our witness to others as disciples Jesus wants you to go and keep all the appointments in your diary this week and as you do so you are to be salt and you are to be light what exactly does he mean by that and what's that teaching us well that's what I want us just to explore for a wee moment together and we'll look at these two things one by one so first of all in verse 13
[13:55] Jesus says that we are to be salt Jesus uses this metaphor to describe us as disciples what does that mean well we could spend a lot of time thinking about the properties of salt and I've heard one or two sermons that kind of look at salt and talk a lot about it and that can be really helpful you think salt is white and salt does this and does that and you can focus on what salt is and apply that to our lives as Christians that can be very helpful but I don't want us to think about that as such what I want us to focus on is what the whole verse is saying because sometimes we can home in on something in particular and and maybe miss the main point of the verse whenever you look at a verse in the Bible a good question to always ask is what's the key word in this verse sometimes there'll be more than one key word but very often there's one key word in the verse so I want you to look at verse 13 and I'm going to ask you what do you think is the key word in that verse and I'm going to give you a clue it's not salt
[15:07] I think the key word in that verse is saltiness now you might think that sounds really nitpicky but I think it's very important to recognize this because the emphasis on Jesus's words in verse 13 is not so much on the salt the first sentence you're the salt of the earth that's kind of preliminary information isn't it it's from it's from but if onwards that he actually makes his main point and his main point is not about the salt but about the saltiness of the salt and the main point Jesus is making is that it's the distinctiveness of the salt that is most important the taste the saltiness of the salt is what makes it effective and without it it stops being effective salty salt without saltiness is just white stuff that doesn't do anything it's the saltiness that makes it important without it it's useless and here Jesus again is highlighting what is really the main point of the whole sermon on the mount that as disciples we are to be different and that's why the sermon of the mount remains so relevant for us because today living as a disciple of
[16:24] Jesus means being different from the world around us as we saw and as is emphasized in the beatitudes and it's our saltiness as disciples that distinguishes us from the rest of the world and the key point is that that saltiness is unmistakable if you forget to put salt in porridge you notice because it doesn't taste very nice same with boiling your carrots or whatever else you have to put salt into if you don't put it in you notice as disciples our distinctiveness from the world should be unmistakable in other words people should be able to tell that there's something different in our lives we should bear witness to the fact that there's something distinctive and in a moment we'll think a little bit more about how exactly we do that what i want us to focus on just now is that one of the main things that Jesus is saying in this verse is that we need to protect our saltiness because if it's lost how can it be restored now if you go back to the old testament you will see that there were many times when Israel lost its saltiness so Israel was supposed to be distinctive different from the rest of the world they were supposed to have a different way of worshiping the rest of the world had like this kind of multiple list of gods that you kind of had to please and worship and do all sorts of stuff to Israel was different they had one god and Israel's temple was in Jerusalem and Israel's food laws and and other ethical codes made them different from the rest of the world and Israel was supposed to stand out so that the rest of the world could look on and be blessed through the descendants of Abraham as God promised in Genesis 12. But of course Israel spent half the time looking at the rest of the world thinking oh we want to be like them oh look at those Philistines let's go and do what they're doing oh look they're worshiping Baal we should follow them and they constantly compromised they repeatedly lost their saltiness and instead they just wanted to blend in with the world around them and we face exactly the same temptation as you go into to your work or school or uni whatever it is this week you're going to face huge pressure in the week ahead whether you realize it or not to just be like everybody else to fit in to follow to follow the crowd and the challenge to us as Christians is that that Jesus is calling us to be different so when someone hurts you the world tends to say get them back
[19:20] Jesus is telling us as disciples we have to be different when you are attracted to someone the world tends to say go and have a bit of fun disciples need to be different when we look at the world around us chasing more money more power more success more possessions as disciples we must be different the Christian church must never lose its saltiness so if we're talking about our witness in the week ahead step one in that process is that we must always be be distinctive and if you're maybe not get a Christian or you're not sure about Christianity and you kind of think well what's if you're just not sure um or maybe you're definitely sure and you're not a Christian I want you to recognize or think about the fact that Christianity offers you something different uh it's kind of easy to sometimes think that um you know Christianity is just one path of life so there's lots of different paths in life everybody's going their own path and Christianity is just one of them maybe your parents do it you don't need to do it the same way but you might just follow roughly in the same path that Christianity is one of many roads sort of drifting down this path of life that's not true uh if all the paths of life are going in this direction Christianity is going this way it's going in the complete opposite direction and that's why to to step onto the road of Christianity you need to repent which basically means just to turn around and go the other way and Christianity is calling you to something different a different set of priorities a different set of reactions a different set of concerns a different set of things that you are going to put first in life and so in many ways the call to Christianity is a call to be different um now you might think you know well I don't want to be different because different is weird um uh I am weird anyway so I can't really kind of comment on that too much uh but what I want to point you towards is more um now you take for example you look at just Britain today and uh you look at at politics just now which is just ruthless absolutely ruthless with people um you look at the media that's just brutal in the way it treats people you look at the workplace where it's pressure pressure pressure pressure um and you see all that kind of stuff going all going on all around you Jesus is saying
[22:15] I'll give you something different it's up to you whether you want to choose that or not so Jesus is saying as disciples we need to be different in a good way so how do we do that how how should we be different well it's very easy to think well the best way to be different is just to cut yourselves off from the rest of the world uh all these kind of influences you know you think of Israel it was sucked away by the nations all around them so often for us as Christians we're kind of tempted to go here attempted to do this tempted to follow that you think you know the best way for me to be different will be just if I can just cut myself off from the rest of the world and I'll just hide myself I'll come and join Thomas in the kind of Christian bubble that he works in uh and I'll just keep away from everything and throughout the history of Christianity people have done that uh people have uh isolated themselves either in groups or even just as as as hermits on their own uh people want to uh just pull back from the world and you don't need to go to the extreme of being a hermit you can just pull yourself back from the world and just do churchy stuff all the time and spend more and more time uh doing that sort of thing is that what we're meant to do is that what Jesus is calling you to do well he gives the answer to that question in the very next thing that he says in verses 14 uh onwards uh he says oh sorry I'm pressing the wrong button uh I want to go this way in verse 14 he says you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house in the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven as disciples we are light now again we could say lots about the properties of light and that would be a helpful study to look into but again we want to ask the question what's the main point that Jesus is making what's the main word uh in that paragraph is it light no I don't think it is I think that if you look at that uh I would say really the key word is probably the word shine because that's what's being spoken about uh Jesus wants us uh to let our light shine if you just look at the grammar of that um not that I'm an expert in grammar I'm really nervous talking about this but uh I think I know enough to navigate it through you're the light of the world that's just like a background sentence then there's this illustration of a city on a hill a light in a basket in the same way let your light shine before others that's the that's the punch line that Jesus is aiming for you need to shine therefore is Jesus saying keep ourselves to ourselves in order to maintain our saltiness is he saying avoid the world and don't be contaminated by them no in fact he says the exact opposite as disciples we are a light that should never be under a basket we are to shine openly and brightly giving light to all those who are around us and so I think the main point being made here is in terms of visibility as Christians our distinctiveness must be seen and the only way we can do that is if you go to work tomorrow or if you go to school or if you are in all the different ways that you are in contact with the world disciples must never be cut off isolated or separate from the world we must be visible there must always be contact and this raises a vital question
[26:16] you look at these great words of Matthew chapter 5 verses 13 to 16 and you ask the question where is it that we fulfill what's being commanded in these verses where is it that we obey Jesus's teaching is it here tonight no it's tomorrow at work or in the community or on a school run or when you invite somebody around or when you go to meet your friends or when you go to class or whatever it is that you are going being here tonight is a massively important part of being a disciple it's part of the blessedness of being in the family of God but being a disciple is not just about coming to church and being blessed and encouraged it's also about being a blessing to the world and that's why this verse is not lived out here at church it's lived out tomorrow and Tuesday and Wednesday and in all the different ways in which we are in contact with the world around us that's why your job your hobbies your home life your weekly routine these things are not just same old same old they are brilliant opportunities to witness because it is by doing these things that people will see you and they will see your distinctiveness as a Christian and you will be a light and here's where we have to kind of remember you know the fundamental truths that we kind of hold on to but easily forget I'm very guilty of that you know I I pick up a big theology book and I I believe absolutely what I I say what I read but I don't tend to apply it to my life so for example one of the big truths that we believe is that God is in control that's one of the most amazing truths about God he is in control of all things and he he is the creator of the world and his providence means that he sustains all things everything is in his hands God is in control of our lives so when you think of your diary for this week why does your diary say what it says is it's because these are the places where God wants you to be he's putting you there he's positioning you in these locations among these people if God is sovereign and if his providence orders all events where you go tomorrow is where God needs you to be because you are his light that's why whatever we do we are to do it uh not just not for men or for our own glory but we're to do it for the Lord we are serving Christ in every single aspect of our weekly routine and that's and that's such an important encouragement for us all because it's so easy to feel that we're not much use for God unless we're in some kind of ministry unless you're a minister like me or or involved in some kind of church work or doing something uh like like that youth worker or ministry missionary or pastoral assistant or whatever it may be these are all brilliant things and they're all crucial but the sermon on the mount is reminding us that your routine your job your life the stuff that you do is an amazing opportunity for you to be distinctive for you to be salty and for that to be clearly visible to others for you to be a light that makes this week so exciting because you don't know who's seeing you who's watching you you don't know who God is going to bring you into contact with but there's one thing for sure he can't do it if you're not there that's why where you go and what you do this week is so important and that's one of the amazing things about being a Christian is that it brings purpose to every part of your life and again if you're maybe not yet a Christian yet or not sure where you stand uh this week can seem uh can just seem like another week um
[30:22] uh a lot of people think that cricket is really boring i don't know if anyone here likes cricket anyone here likes cricket maybe maybe not okay i'm gonna lay my colors on the table lay my cards on the table i love cricket cricket's a cool game um do you know what makes cricket so cool is the fact that every time that bowler is running up you're watching and something amazing might happen now it doesn't always happen but sometimes it does and the minute you start to think like that you get hooked on cricket and you can watch it all day and you know some nutcases watch cricket all day for four days in a row that's why because something amazing might happen every time that guy runs up with the ball that's what life as a Christian is like something amazing might happen it doesn't say it definitely will but something amazing might happen and when it does it is awesome and so you have that excitement and that purpose as you go into every week when you are a follower of Jesus um what if you're not a Christian what what amazing thing could happen this week in your life that's something for us all to think about maybe uh as a disciple of Jesus every day is an opportunity for something amazing to happen so step one for witnessing we must be salty distinctive and clearly different from the world around us and you can read the rest of the sermon on the mount to see lots of different ways in which that manifests itself um one of the great examples is where uh you know the the kind of the world's mindset is if someone hurts you get them back uh Jesus says no don't be like that at all and you can read through the sermon on the mount to see all the ways in which we're meant to be different we're meant to be salty we're meant to be distinctive that's step one for witnessing step two is that we need to be shining lights we need to be visible we need to be in contact with the world nobody is going to see us um if we're not but both of these things are still a bit general and you might say well Thomas all that's really helpful but how exactly am i supposed to be a witness how exactly do i show that i'm a disciple what should i do and there's lots of possible answers um you might say you need to share your faith you need to challenge someone you need to invite someone to church or to to to uh discipleship explored you need to ask questions you need to challenge people's world view you need to engage and these are all good and necessary things and that conference that um mike intimated at the start is a is a great example of of to go and and to be helped equipped to do all these things these are very important and helpful um aspects of uh being a witness but in matthew 5 16 jesus doesn't mention any of them and instead he identifies something else uh as being key uh to being salt and light in verse 16.
[34:01] can you see what it is he says in the same way let your light shine before others so they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven and here jesus isn't talking about the details of of of challenging people or sharing faith or or engaging in apologetics these are all good vital important things but here jesus is taking us back a step and he's talking about the most basic and fundamental activity of witnessing and that basic and fundamental activity is good works because that's what he says it's right there and that actually makes perfect sense in terms of the imagery that jesus uses because both salt and light have a good effect salt preserves against corruption and rotting and it enhances flavor light removes darkness and provides illumination our good works are works that do good they have a good effect on the world around us and that can be in lots of different ways speaking well showing kindness working hard being honest being patient helping people in need showing hospitality sharing our stuff encouraging people listening to people loving our neighbor these are the practical outworkings of being salt and light and it's absolutely crucial that as christians we make this a priority in our lives and we must never ever ever replace it with something else so for example i absolutely love studying theology i would dive into a pile of books tomorrow morning and just swim around in it all week i love it it's just i mean studying the bible is absolutely awesome there's so much cool stuff to see and it's incredible theology is wonderful and it's so important i love doing it but theology is no substitute for good works because jesus doesn't say in the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see how much theological knowledge you have and give glory to your father in heaven it's not what he says he says that they may see your good works our witness as christians is based on a life of actions that are good now some people might think that that says well thomas that's all just sounds a bit kind of like it's a bit sort of wishy-washy it's a bit sort of like idealistic uh it almost is like that sounds like you're saying you know we're saved by being good that's not what we're saying at all the sermon on the mount is not about how to become a christian the ceremony on the mount is how to live as a christian if you read through it you'll see that jesus calls people to repent that's how you become a christian you repent and believe and from that point onwards he teaches those who are following him his disciples how to live as christians and at the heart of our lives as christians is good works and it actually makes perfect theological sense because uh way back in genesis when we go back to the very beginning we see that the world is broken because of sin and the curse and damage of sin pervades across humanity and across creation in the early chapters of genesis and indeed throughout all the ages of history and god's great plan and the whole kind of biblical narrative is to fix that and that's why the bible ends with a new creation a restored creation where all the damage of sin has been undone so there's like this kind of a great path where humanity and creation falls and there's just this great work of
[38:06] restoration bringing it all the way back up to this renewed standard that lies in the future when jesus returns a restored new heavens and new earth but now now there is a glimpse of that future now there is is is a place where you can see the goodness of the age to come manifested in the here and now and that glimpse is in the church among the disciples of jesus our good works as citizens of god's kingdom are part of that whole restoration process in order uh to see the world restored to what it's meant to be that's why uh that's why so much stuff got better after the new testament that's why so much stuff got better in britain when the christian faith had more and more influence stuff like education health care all that good stuff all of that came from the gospel's influence in our nation it's all part of god's restoring work of creation the world is rotting in sin therefore it needs salt and the world is dark therefore it needs light and jesus is saying the salt and the light is you as his disciples and there we see how as disciples we are not just blessed we are also to be a blessing for others and the result of that is that people will give glory to our father who is in heaven and that is always our aim when it comes to witnessing we want to witness not to make our congregation bigger not to have lots of new members uh not even so that we could say that there's revival even though all of these things would be amazing our goal is that god would be glorified and it's his honor that matters we want our good works to bring glory to him and all of that has very important implications for our witnessing which i want us just to focus on as we finish in all of this i'm not saying that we don't share our faith or invite people or challenge people or engage in discussions these are all really appropriate when the opportunities that are appropriate when the opportunity arises but if you are anything like me you will know that these opportunities don't arise that often do they there's some people who who can have these kind of good conversations uh very regularly and and they have an amazing gift for most of us these kind of conversations are pretty rare uh and usually we stuff them up because we get flustered certainly i tend to do um they're not that common and so i would call them our occasional witness so maybe occasionally you'll get the chance to invite someone to church please do when you get the chance go for it maybe you will get a colleague who'll say you're a christian what does that mean maybe that'll happen and it'll be brilliant and you want to be ready to answer that question maybe you will get the opportunity where someone comes and opens up to you and there's a chance to talk about jesus but these things in general are occasional but our good works our visible saltiness that is our constant witness every moment of every day every hour that you're at work every day that you're at uni every class you have
[42:10] to go to at school it's your constant witness every day is an opportunity to do it that's what makes every day exciting because you've got that opportunity to go out and be different and live a life that's just just way better than the all the horrible stuff that the world sees around us you can do so much good to others every single day in so many different ways and the amazing thing is that no one can stop you from doing it so you can ask someone do you want to come to christianity explored and they'll be like no you could say do you want to come to church no you say oh what do you think about faith i don't know and the conversation gets shut down immediately people can stop you from doing it nobody can stop you from being good to them no one can stop you from being a good colleague or a good classmate no one can prevent you from doing that and people will see you even when you don't realize it people are watching you and your your your conduct is constantly telling a story which is really what bearing witness is it's just telling a story you're constantly doing that even when you don't realize and the reason this is why this is so important and i think the reason why jesus focuses on this is because failure in our good works the reason why jesus makes for a constant bad witness and if our constant witness is bad then our occasional witness is going to mean very little so if i'm a kind of pain in the neck to work with snappy and complaining and selfish and awkward and then i go to my colleague and say oh we've got this special service at bon accord do you want to come i think he's probably going to say no thank you but your constant witness as as somebody who who seeks to be christ-like lays an amazing foundation foundation so that when that opportunity does arise people will i think be much more likely to respond and so in terms of your witness this week i think we've been told three key things by jesus he's saying number one be distinctive be salty be ready to be different not in an arrogant way or anything like that but just in a really humble way just be ready to be different be visible so that people can see you um and don't don't keep it hidden away and demonstrate all of that by your good works by the way you conduct yourselves and this is where i think what jesus says is just so wise and so true because i think that everything that he's setting before us here is confirmed by our own experience because so many times i have heard people um speak about coming to faith in jesus and again and again and again i've heard them say i i would look at christians i knew i knew and i just saw that they had something different that's exactly the kind of witnessing that jesus is describing in the sermon on the mount may god make every one of us disciples like that amen let's pray
[46:18] you