Seasoning of Salt — 1: A Broken and Contrite Heart
3 Seasoning of Salt— 1: A Broken and Contrite Heart
Chosen few become Salt I have been drawing your attention to this small fragment of Scripture 'Ye are the salt of the earth' (Matthew 5: 13). The Lord Jesus was going about Galilee with His few disciples. Multitudes came after Him from parts of the country; from Decapolis, Galilee, Jordan, Jerusalem, Judaea and from beyond Jordan. They had heard about His miracles; therefore they came from all parts to be healed by Him. But our Lord had one great objective before Him and that was to call a few disciples for the work to be done on the earth. When He saw the multitude coming after Him, we are told, He went up a mountain. There on the mountain, not far from Galilee, He preached the wellknown and wonderful Sermon on the Mount. That sermon is found in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7. At that time He made this statement, 'Ye are the salt of the earth'. He had come to seek and to save sinners that He might provide salt and light for the whole world. Whatever the Lord did, He did with that thought in mind: to provide salt, which could bring everlasting joy to mankind; and light, which could give everlasting life.
We see from God's Word how, by coming into His hand, we can become His salt. Some of you may have seen how salt is made by the seaside. Sea-water, which is full of salt, is evaporated and the salt remains behind. This salt has to be purified before it can be used. God wants good, pure salt. Each one of us can become that good, pure salt. Even though we be a very small number, wherever we are we can be sufficient to bring joy to the whole country. While we require many bags of rice to provide food for thousands, we do not need so much salt. To make good food, we do not require much salt. A small quantity of salt can give taste to the food needed for many people. There are cities, towns and villages where believers are just a few in number, perhaps only two, three, four or five. Yet those few believers can be sufficient to bring joy, gladness, happiness and light to all the people of that place. That is why the Lord compares believers to a city on a hill. The city on a hill can be seen from many miles away. Even one believer is sufficient to tell people that there is life and light in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even though multitudes followed the Lord Jesus Christ, only a small number of them became His disciples. Yet those few have turned the world upside down. They were just ordinary men, but because they were disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, they became salt. Through them, you find that the love of God has been made known to every nation in the world.
True Salt—Divine love In some parts of North India, when a visitor arrives, they will first of all give him something very salty to eat, and a glass of water. In doing this they say to the visitor, "We receive and welcome you, and we give this to show our love to you'. Thus salt stands for true and fervent love.
True love can only be shown by believers. Your mother, father, brothers, sisters, or friends cannot love you in the same way as your fellow-believers. Human love changes. As time, circumstances and conditions of life change, human love will also change. But the love of the Lord Jesus Christ will never change. When the Lord Jesus Christ says, 'Ye are the salt of the earth', He means that through you He wants His eternal life to be shown, declared and preached wherever you go. People of many races, speaking more than 1,155 languages, have received that same love through those who are born again. People of all conditions, like cannibals, murderers and thieves, who had been absolutely rejected by society, are now testifying of God's love to others.
During the last war, there was a soldier lying very sorely wounded in a hospital. When King George went to visit the hospital and see the patients, he came to this man's bedside. He saw his pain and suffering and felt very sorry for him. He said to him, 'Young man, can 1 do anything for you? Have you got any request?' The soldier said, 'Your majesty, I want only one favour. Will you please thank that nurse for nursing me so kindly and lovingly all these months?' There were tears in his eyes as he uttered these words. 'Even my own mother or sister would not have cared for me like that nurse. She has been nursing me so kindly, lovingly and patiently all these days and nights. Please, Sir, thank her on my behalf.' So the king called her and said, 'Nurse, on behalf of my wounded soldier, I want to thank you for your kind nursing'. The nurse replied, Your Majesty, 1 have not nursed him. It is God who is living in me that has nursed him. Please, Sir, the Lord Jesus Christ has saved me by His grace and gave me love for him'. That is true love, which cannot be received from either friends or relations. Earthly love is dependant on earthly condi-tions; but divin stance. That is why the Lord said, 'Love your enemies!' What wonderful salt! The persons who hate us and curse us can be loved by us. We can love them not only to give them temporary relief from their suffering, but to make them partakers of the same love for eternity. Even though the food may be just lentils and that not even cooked properly, the salt put into it makes it more tasty than mutton, fowl or fish, without salt. It is the same way with divine love. We can offer people something for eternity, wherever they may be. As we come in contact with them, we will be able to give them the real taste of divine salt.
Salt can bring real relief in many ways. Some people eat too much ghee and butter, and their stomachs start bloating. That is why they have to take soda, wherever they go. For such people salt is useful to take away the bloating from the stomach. In fact salt can give you relief from many ailments. Every one of us must become God's true salt.
How we become true salt We see in verse 3 of Matthew 5, how we can be made such true salt. We must have a humble, broken and contrite spirit. That is the first stage in the purification of the salt. People throughout the world have been trying to find God. People of all classes and religions have been trying to build many great buildings with the desire of seeking God, thinking that through such grand buildings, they would be able to find God. They spend much time, energy and money on these buildings.
Some years ago, I saw in Lebanon the ruins of a very old temple built by the Romans. We can see, still standing there, huge pillars and very thick walls, about 40 or 50 feet high, built with very big stones. One wonders how such big stones could have been lifted up so high. People have built high buildings through much hardship, with the longing to find God. But when you go inside you find the devil there! I found many Roman Catholic buildings in Palestine—huge buildings in Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem and Galilee. They are very grand buildings; but inside, there is nothing but darkness, evil, shame and sin. They think that through such buildings, they can come nearer to God and feel His presence more (cf. Isaiah 57 :15 and 66: 2). God does not live in buildings made by hands, whether they are built by Christians, Mohammedans, Jews or by anybody else. The Jews thought because they had a very great temple built by Solomon they knew God better. But that very same temple became a ruin and if you go to Jerusalem now, you will find Mohammedan mosques there. God does not live in buildings which men have made. He lives in a broken and contrite heart. What an honour and a privilege! Only when God Himself comes to live in us, can we become the salt of the earth. Only then can we show true love to all men and even to our enemies. Otherwise our hearts will remain full of jealousy, enmity and corruption. The whole world, these days, is full of hatred and bitterness; nation against nation, brother against brother, friend against friend, and children against parents. Why? Because there is no salt in them.
Sometimes God uses many painful means to make us truly humble. Read what David says in Psalm 51: 17. He learnt his lesson through very bitter experience. We see in 1 Samuel 16: 12, 18, the outward qualifications of David, when he was a young man. How many good outward virtues he had. He could play an instrument, he was a mighty man of war, a very prudent and wise man, and fit to be a king. Yet he never knew the inward filthiness of his own heart. The time came when he was sorely tempted by the flesh. You find the story in 2 Samuel 11. In a cunning and subtle way the devil deceived him. The great, wise, noble king became an adulterer. And then, because of that sin, he became a deceiver, a hypocrite, a cunning man and finally a murderer. Although he was a wise and noble king he was deceived by the devil.
Every human being is liable to be so deceived. After that downfall, David learnt a lesson. So now he says with great sorrow in his heart, 'In sin did my mother conceive me' (Psalm 51:5). He had begun to realize the filthy condition of the human heart.
There are some children who look very nice, sweet and charming. They are so attractive, loving and sweet, that you feel like kissing their toes. But after two or three hours, when they become stubborn, angry and start kicking, they seem devilish! It is because we are all born with a sinful nature, as God's Word says.
Now David cried, 'Oh God, forgive me my sins; against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow'. See, he was conscious of his inward defilement. He was crying to be washed, 'Oh Lord, purge me, purge me'. Now that word 'purge' in English applies to gold being refined in the fire. You cannot clean gold just by washing it in water. It must be refined, or purged by fire. When gold is refined it has to go through the fire seven times. This process of refining is called 'purging'. By this purging, even the dirt hidden inside will come out and be completely removed. We do not realize how much corruption, evil and defilement we all have in our hearts. It is only the light of God coming inside that can enable us to see it. When you know what you are, you will cry like David, 'Lord, purge me and wash me thoroughly. Cleanse me inwardly and outwardly. Cleanse me from all evil'. The heart from which such a cry comes is called a broken and a contrite heart. If your heart is not like that you will remain as salt that has lost its savour. God cannot come and live in you. If you want to become good salt like David, then cry unto the Lord to cleanse you.
True salt brings blessing See how much comfort the Psalms of David have brought to mankind throughout the world. Men in sorrow, trouble and discouragement have read the Book of Psalms. How many have been blessed through Psalms 23. 91. 103 and 104! All these wonderful Psalms have divine salt, healing men of every kind of wound. They have wiped away so many tears, lifted so many burdens, and brought peace to so many people. It is only after David became a man with a broken heart, that he became a man of true salt. This is the first stage in becoming divine salt; 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 5: 3). Now see what reward is received by such people. Not only do they become God's dwelling place, and God's salt, but God's Word says here. "Their's is the kingdom of heaven!' They become partakers and heirs of God's holy kingdom. This is not possible by Bible knowledge, or college degrees, or good sermons, or singing, or miracles, but by being of a broken heart. You have to become more and more humble before God. It is a life-long lesson. That is why the Lord says we should know our own spiritual poverty. and our inward corruption. God's grace and love are available to change us.
There are certain diseases which cannot be diagnosed without the help of the X-ray. Without it, even a very clever doctor cannot correctly diagnose such diseases. When they have taken the X-ray photo, they may dis - cover that the brain or intestines have had that disease for many years, quite unknown to the patient. The X-ray will reveal th the body.
I know a young man who was suffering from a bad throat and cough. He thought it was an ordinary cold.
One day someone advised him to go to a good doctor for diagnosis. He went, and the doctor said that an X-ray should be taken. Then, when it was taken and examined, the doctor told the young man, 'I am sorry, young man, you have got T.B.' He took that X-ray photo and went home weeping. His mother asked him, 'What is the matter? Why are you weeping?' He said, 'I have got T.B.!' Then the whole family started to weep. They were poor people. They had no money to send him to a sanatorium. So they sold everything possible in order to get him properly treated in the sanatorium. Then he was cured.
Now the real light is the light which you receive in the Lord. The light of God has to come into us so that we may see our own personal condition. He says very clearly, 'I am the light of the world.' He is not the light of the candle or the light of the sun or the light of the electric bulb; but He is the Eternal Light. We are told in the Word of God that in the new creation there is no need of any kind of lighting. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, will be the Light. Now the mystery is that this eternal, divine, pure Light is now being offered to us. First of all, by the help of that Light, we will see our sinful defilement and true condition. That is going to be our X-ray, Just as the young man became anxious and started to weep after he saw the photograph, in the same way, it is only when the light of God comes into you, that you will see your true condition and feel truly sorry.
When a man goes to a photographer to have his pic - ture taken he usually borrows a coat and a watch and other things, and tries to look his best. His hair will be beautifully brushed and combed. He will be sure to have a shave and will even powder his face. Even though his face may actually be ugly and black, if it turns out to be a very nice photo, he feels happy, and keeps on saying, 'See my photo!' Now, the Bible will not give you a wrong, deceptive photo like that! You will be made to see clearly and minutely what you really are. We ought to be thankful when we are made to see our true condition. Then we can call upon Him with a broken heart saying, 'Yes, Lord, I never knew; my heart is very wicked, sinful and defiled. Have mercy upon me!' Then He replies, 'I have loved thee with an everlasting love; and with cords of love I have drawn thee.' Because He loves me, He shows me my true condition, so that He may wash me and come into me.
Now, supposing you are told today that some great person in India desires to come and stay in your house for a few hours. You will make much preparation. You will say, 'So-and-so is coming to my house!' You will clean every spot in the house. Even though you might not have washed your bathroom for the last twenty-five years, on that day, you will buy a big tin of phenyle and clean the whole house so that the visitor may get good smell. Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ wants to come and live in us for all eternity. That is why we must be cleansed. We must have a broken and contrite heart. That is the beginning of the process of becoming salt. The holy, loving God, the great God, the living God, wants to come and dwell in us.
Have you become that salt? Can your friends, neighbours and others taste that divine salt through you? If not, please become true salt now. Then you will find, that wherever you go, tears will be wiped away through your words, and many burdens will be rolled away. New joy will come to many homes. Your whole town and country will be blessed through you. Day by day, more and more people will be prepared through you to become such divine salt.
God lives in a humble heart and a broken spirit. He comes to give us His All and He will live in us forever. When people go to visit relations, usually, they will not go empty handed; they will take with them sweets or fruits. When I was a boy, my mother once told me that my uncle was coming to visit us. She said, 'He is very kind and very wealthy too; the last time he came he brought us many things.' So when my uncle arrived, before he could enter the door of our house, I put my hands into his pockets; and, sure enough, there was a small package in it! God gives us everything when He comes to live in our hearts. He brings His fulness. With Him is the whole kingdom. His full glory is for us. Will you not become broken now and be washed by His blood?
May God make us of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.