Hopefully making theology simpler to understand! (2 Corinthians 1:12)

I have started a small group series on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). I am sharing my notes in case anyone else wants to use them with their group.

Sermon on the Mount – Part 4

Matthew 5:1-2:
Jesus wants to teach the crowds: Who are they? Jewish disciples: People who understand the
Scriptures (at least to a point). Notice from 7:28 the crowds still came along, but this teaching is for His disciples.

What does “blessed” mean?
Based on the first twelve verses, blessed means realizing our own wretchedness and need for a Savior. In other words, it is becoming/being a Christian.

Matthew 5:13-16:

Matthew 5:13:
Properties of salt:
• Made from stuff that can kill us (chloride, as in chlorine, which is poisonous to us; sodium is not very good for us by itself)
   o No one can see God’s face and live (Exodus 33:20), yet we shall see God face to face through Christ (1 Corinthians 13:12)
• Enriches flavor
   o 1 Peter 2:12 – We make life better as we point others to God’s Hugh standards.
• Preserves
   o 2 Peter 3:9 – God withholds His wrath until all who will be saved are saved.
• Can melt ice
   o Romans 10:13-14; Ezekiel 11:19 – The preaching of the gospel can change people’s hearts (via the Holy Spirit) from hardness to receptivity (see also Parable of the Sower/Seeds [Matthew 13:1-23], implying God may change the soil of the heart)
• Is used to make soap
   o 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 – We help cleanse the world through defending and spreading truth over lies of evil spirits/demons/Satan
• Has a high melting point (it is not easily melted/burned: paradoxically lowering the boiling point of water while making it harder for water to boil)
   o Isaiah 43:1b-3a – We hold back God’s wrath (see “Preserves” earlier) as the world gives more reason for His wrath to come. Further, we pull people from the fires of damnation (see Jude)

Can we lose our saltiness? (Refer, again, to Parable of the Sower – holding to the understanding that the first three refer to unsaved people [“churchians”?]) (Short answer: not really. Salt does not become not salt. It either is salt or is not.)

But how do “we” save them?

Matthew 5:14-16
• Firstly, v. 16: what does it mean to shine our light?
• It is there: “see your good works and glorify …”
• Secondly, What does it mean to glorify God?
• Mark 12:32-34; 1 Samuel 15:22; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:8
• Glorifying God means obeying Him and showing love and mercy.
• We share the Gospel – Romans 10:13-17; Matthew 28:18-20
• Hebrews 11:6 – It is impossible to please God, to glorify God, if we do not believe in Him properly if at all. So we share the Gospel. Our greatest good work.

How we shine:

• Ephesians 5:1-21
• Philippians 2:12-16
• 1 Peter 4:1-11