Refining of Salt — 1: Righteousness

6 Refining of Salt—1: Righteousness

Be Ye Perfect The Bible proves three things about God. Firstly, it shows that God is. In their folly, men of all races have ever been trying to prove that there is no God. But the Bible declares that He is, and that He is a living and personal God; we can hear and feel and speak to Him. Secondly, the Bible shows us that God is love. You will find this truth in the whole of the last chapter of Revelation. Thirdly, it shows us that God loves you, no matter who you might be. Even though you are hated and despised by your fellow-men, yet I can definitely say to you, God loves you. When once we have tasted Him. then wherever we go and wherever we live, others will be able to taste that divine love through us. The Divine Love can flow out from us all the time not only by our preaching, but by our lives also.

For this reason God wants us to become good, pure salt. Good salt is very tasty. In Pakistan rock-salt is found. Once when I was leaving for Pakistan, I asked my mother, 'Do you want me to bring anything for you from Pakistan?' She replied, 'Bring me some Pakistani salt.' That is all she wanted. The salt here is not good, it is full of dirt and mud; but rock-salt is very pure salt. If you could use some of that salt here the food would be much tastier. We require good salt to get tasty food. Our Lord wants us to be good, pure salt. Even though he spoke these words to a very big crowd on the mount at that time, they were really meant for a few disciples; not because He did not want the multitude also to be such pure, good salt but because the majority of them were only after loaves and fishes. These people were not seeking God. They were labouring for the meat that perisheth. But our Lord was offering them something far better. He summed up the whole sermon in one verse, Matthew 5 :48, 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.' Consider what a high standard that is! That is why He came—to make us perfect. Even though we have been completely ruined and defiled by sin, by coming into our Lord's hands we will become perfect and complete, without spot or blemish.

Many years ago, I saw a juggler doing some tricks. He took a good watch, and put it under an earthen vessel. Then he took a big hammer and smashed the whole thing to pieces. Then he put a cloth over it and said, 'Shoo!' and brought out a whole new watch instead. We wondered how it happened. We saw the watch broken into pieces and yet in a moment it had become a new watch. That is a trick of the juggler, but God does something real. We have been completely ruined and spoiled by sin. In the Bible we are called filthy rags. Yet when we are transformed, we become glorious immortal beings. It is a work of God and does not happen by our activity. It does not matter how badly we are damaged by sin. in the hand of God we are made perfect. That was the desire of the Lord Jesus Christ for the whole crowd, although many of them were only after loaves and fishes. The Lord desired to show them His love, and how they could become real salt. the salt which brings true love and joy to the whole of mankind.

Hunger and thirst for God We have seen from the earlier verses of Matthew chapter 5. that there are different refining processes to make us pure salt. The third stage is given in verse 2. The Lord says, 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.' Now, there are many people who claim to be looking for God, but in reality they are not looking for God. They only want something for themselves. Some want name and fame, so that people may consider them great and holy. To get such a reputation they are prepared to go through very great suffering and sacrifice. Now I will tell you a story that I have used many times before as an example. A king who invaded India many years ago. went about looting all the Hindu temples. In this way he gathered much spoil. When he had crossed the Indus river, he called his soldiers and said to them, 'You are my brave companions; you have been with me in mv privations all these months. Now I want to reward you for all your faithfulness and sufferings. Please come and open this treasure bag which is full of gold, silver, diamonds and pearls. Divide the treasure among yourselves.' So the soldiers divided the treasures into a number of portions according to the number of men. Then each man took his portion. But one soldier kept standing by the king. The king said to him, 'You also go and take your share before you leave my service.' But the soldier replied, 'Sir, I choose you! I don't want gold, silver or diamonds. I want to remain with you forever.' Now, please tell me, who do you think got the greatest reward? When the king died, that same soldier became the heir to the throne.

We find many people seeking after God merely from earthly motives. For instance, some want children. Some years ago a Mohammedan man said to me, 'Brother, please pray for me. If I get a son, I will become a Christian.' I said to him, 'I know that you will not become a Christian. One who comes with worldly motives can never become a true Christian.' But he said to me, 'No, you please pray for me; I assure you I will become a Christian straightaway.' So I prayed for him. After one year I happened to visit that same village and he came to me with a shining face saying, 'God heard your prayer, and I have got a son. Now just give me six months only, then I will become a Christian.' After another year, I went mere again, and he came to me and said, 'Please give me another six months.' He kept on coming to me for five years, saying, 'Six months more! Six months more!' Finally the child died, and today that "man is still in darkness. Remember, if you have worldly motives you will never have any true experience of God. That is why our Lord says, 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.'

Some years ago I was visiting a young couple. They were newly married and their first baby was only about two months old. While I was sitting and talking to the husband, the wife of course was busy in the kitchen cooking, and the child started to cry. The father did his best to pacify the child. He brought toys and rattles to stop the child from crying. Then he took the baby in his arms and walked about the room. Then he gave it the feeding bottle, but still the child kept crying. Finally the mother had to leave her work and come to attend to it. She took the child and put it to the breast, and it stopped crying immediately. The child did not want any rattle or toy or feeding bottle. He only wanted his mother. For us also, it is only such a hunger and thirst for righteousness that will really satisfy us.

We see in Hebrews 5 :12, 13, 14, how many believers remain spiritual babes for years together. You will find many people like that; it is only when they are in trouble, distress, affliction or sorrow, that they start praying. Many school children and college boys and girls are like that too. Just for their exams they will start praying, 'O Lord, help me to pass. If I pass, I will give you five rupees, but if I fail, I will not go to any meetings for two months.' That is how they pray, only when they want something. Others pray for deliverance, health, or healing, or for some other thing. Very few have that longing for righteousness of which God speaks here.

In the beginning of our Christian life, we long for many different things. Some of us long for signs and miracles. I used to think that if I could see some divine light shining in the room, I would be very much blessed. So I prayed, 'Lord, send some divine light into my room. I was praying very sincerely, and I used to pray like that for many hours every night. I thought that by seeing some kind of divine light, I would have more power. Then one night as I was praying, I saw some dim light shining in my room. I prayed again, 'Lord, make it brighter!' When I opened my eyes after some time, it was brighter. Again I prayed, 'Lord, make it brighter still, that the whole room might shine.' But again after some time, when I opened the window, I discovered that the light coming into my room was only moonlight! I had thought I was at last seeing some divine light!

I also used to have a great longing for a gift of some kind from God. Because I am not able to sing, I prayed for nine years that the Lord should give me the ability to sing songs or play some instrument. I thought that if I could play the violin, I would be able to do great work for God. But God gave me nothing. He left me without any such talents at all. I was just a fool. Then a new desire came to me,' 'Oh Lord, I only want Thee. I have no other desire now. I don't want any gifts of any kind. I only want to know Thee more and more, that You may become more precious and real to me.' From that day on, everything changed in my life, and I found a great sense of satisfaction. The Scripture says, 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.' They are the ones who shall be satisfied. When we begin to pray that way, we will say, 'Lord, I have no other desire. 1 have not come to Thee for any favour. I am not asking you for anything but just to be with Thee forever and to enjoy Thy presence and to feel Thine arms around me.'

Now some people find it very hard to pray. I also found it very hard in the beginning. I used to read the Bible many hours a day. God took away the desire for the cinema and other worldly things. So I gave up all other books and used to read the Bible the whole day. 1 never got tired of reading the Bible, even though I would read for twelve hours or more. I never got tired of attending meetings every day. But I could not pray for more than five minutes. I tried very hard, but always, after a few minutes, my thoughts would go wandering, or I would go to sleep. This went on for more than two years. Then I thank God He taught me how to speak with Him. That became my most precious experience and the Lord took away from my heart all other desires. 1 used to say whenever I went to Him, 'Lord, I have not come to Thee for money, or for knowledge, or for other favours. You can keep me anywhere, send me anywhere, I only want to be with Thee. Give me the privilege and the honour of being with Thee and Thee alone.' Whenever you thus enter His divine presence, straightaway all tiredness, fear, or anxiety will disappear. Whatever may be your fear or trouble, no matter how painful may be your wounds, when you go to the Lord Jesus Christ, do not tell Him your worries, troubles or sorrows; He knows them before you tell Him; you kneel down and say to Him, 'Lord I want to come and spend this time with Thee. Let me enjoy Thy presence.' Then all your troubles will vanish and when you get up from your knees, you will feel blessed and refreshed.

Satisfied with the fatness of Thy House Let us see one more very important principle. The question is, with what can such hunger and thirst be satisfied? The answer is given in Psalm 36:8, 'They shall be abundantly satisfy with the fatness of Thy House.' Only by coming into God's House can God's people be fully satisfied. As we saw before, God's House is not just a stone or brick building. No building can be the spiritual House of God. We ourselves are the living stones which have to be put together to become God's House, according to 1 Peter 2:2.

By being born again, we become living stones. When I visited Palestine, I saw there some very big stones in an old Jewish building called the Synagogue. It is very beautifully made. If you take a small stone and strike one of these huge stones in the wall, it will produce a very sweet musical note, like the note of an organ. Every stone has a different note. Till today they do not know how these stones were cut. People come from great distances to see these stones, to knock them and listen to the sweet note. In the same way, when you are born again, you become a living stone of the Lord Jesus Christ, with heavenly music in you. Let people curse us, strike us, and speak ill of us, we can still say to them, 'The Lord bless you and make you more happy and forgive you.' Even though he was being stoned Stephen said, 'Lord lay not this sin to their charge.' That is, he was saying, 'Lord, fogive them'. The Lord gave him heavenly music. All such living stones put together make God's House. When we come among such true believers we will be abundantly satisfied.

After my conversion I used to wander to different places, to different church buildings, with hunger in my heart. When I saw some huge building I would say in my heart, perhaps, if I go there I will be satisfied. But in spite of such big buildings, highly qualified preachers and grand organs, I would come out of the building with my hunger unsatisfied. This went on for two years. One morning I went for a walk in the streets of Vancouver. There I saw a small hut. Generally, they have very big stone buildings for Christian worship, but this was only a small hut. I thought, 'Let me go there for Sunday worship.' When I went in, somebody with a bright shining face came to greet me. He said, 'I am happy to see you.' Without even asking my name he asked me to come in and told me that there were only a few believers, but they loved the Lord. Everyone of them had Bibles. I was very happy there in the little hut. It is only among true believers we can enjoy God's presence. But the pity is, that in many towns there is not to be found any place of true fellowship of believers. That is why people are not satisfied. It is only by assembling together with God's children and worshipping God in spirit and in truth, with understanding of the heavenly mystery of God's house, will our hunger be abundantly satisfied. But sad to say, many believers do not know the meaning of the true Church. They call a building the Church; for instance, St. John's Church, St. Luke's Church and so on. The building cannot be the Church. We believers, put together, make the true Church. Only when we take our full share of the fatness to be found in the House of God can we find our hunger and thirst fully satisfied. As we worship the Lord, and as we see Him and feed upon Him, He will become more and more real to us. We will then be able to give the taste of good salt to the earth.