A Living Sacrifice to the King

Mark 9: 49-50

Transcript

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Well, welcome back. If you're new with us this morning, we just want to say welcome and we're excited that you're here. And if you have a Bible with you, let's turn to Mark chapter 9 as we finish this chapter this morning. And what a chapter it's been for us. I mean, if you have been with us these past several weeks, as we've worked bit by bit through chapter 9, it has been a powerful chapter. And if you were with us last week, Josh brought us through a very sobering set of verses. Ultimately, Jesus has commanded us to wage war on our sin. That if your hand causes you to sin, to cut it away. If your eye causes you to sin, to gouge it out. I mean, the imagery, the verbiage that Jesus is using isn't something of self-mutilation, but it's radical war on your sin. To say that if anything stands between me and Jesus, it will not be there. That I will do everything in my power, and my brothers and sisters around me will spur me on to eradicate the things that destroy my relationship with God. And they will encourage me in the things that flourish my relationship with God. And this morning we arrive at the last two verses of this chapter, and if I'm going to be honest with you, I feel like I say this every sermon, but I really mean it this time. These are two challenging verses. Many commentaries will describe these two verses as some of the most challenging in the entire New Testament. Thanks, Josh. Right? I remember sitting there last week and thinking, I wonder if Josh is going to take it to 50 today. And he's like, 48.

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I'm like, ah.

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Like he left that one for me. But I'm excited. These are challenging verses, but I tell you, these are life-changing verses. These verses are so rich in what God has for us. Now, one reason why these verses might be challenging is partly because there's an odd shift in the tone of this passage. Right? Just a verse before, we were seeing Jesus talking about the unquenchable fire, right? He's quoting Isaiah. But then he talks about being salted with fire. Okay, now salts involved, Jesus. What's happening here? Now, if you have a NKJV or if you have a KJV translation, you might read, for everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. The earliest manuscripts we have do not include that shift, that line. If you have the ESV, you'll read that you'll be salted with fire. Now, it does not mean that these are either incorrect, but our early medieval translations include that alternative translation because the scribes at that time were drawing back to what Jesus was drawing back to, which was an Old Testament concept, which we're gonna drive through here. But if you have some differences this morning, don't fret. It's just a different view, a different lens to look at it. But it means the same exact thing. Now, before we read them, I want to understand where we are in these two verses. Because verse 49 and 50 are what we call an inclusio or a literary bookend. They're capping off a conversation that Jesus started back in 33. Right? And where do we find the disciples in 33? They're mumbling to each other, who's the best of us? Who's the greatest among us? And I love how it's worded because Jesus says, What are you guys talking about? And you almost hear this deafening silence of, well, Jesus, we were just talking about who's the greatest here. And Jesus just head and hands, like, you gotta be kidding. And what starts therefrom is Jesus probing at the hearts of the disciples. He says, Well, if you if you're gonna be first, you better be last. That is the posture of the heart that we need to talk about, not who's the greatest in their practice. And then he and then he references treating the children, right? He's like, if you treat them this way, you are blessing me in that treatment. But then he shifts focus and says, and this sin that you're playing with, disciples, this little sin, this pride, this lust, whatever that sin is in your life that you just keep toying with, just know that it's destroying you. And that I want you to wage war on it, and I want you to amputate it from your life. And then he leads us to 49 and 50, where he's going to bookend that address of who is the greatest. Jesus opens this conversation by addressing their pride. He closes this conversation by calling them to peace with one another. And so, with that being said, let's stand together and we're going to read God's Word. It's going to be a lot of verses. All two. Buckle up. So if you have your Bible, if you don't, it'll be up on the screen. But in chapter 9, verse 49, we see, For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another. Let's pray. Father, Lord, we thank you for this time. Lord, we thank you for this word that you have blessed us with. And God, I pray that as we work through this text, God, I pray you pierce our hearts. You soften our hearts, Lord God, and prepare us for this word, that we may receive it with gladness, but also it may cause conviction where we need it. Lord, that it may embolden us and sharpen us, God. And we love you, we thank you, we praise you for all that you do. And it's in your precious name we pray. Amen. You can have a seat. Now, as I said, this is a bit of a shift in tempo here. Just one verse prior, right? As I said, Jesus was quoting Isaiah about this unquenchable fire, but here he's saying, But then you'll be salted with fire. What does that mean? Now, many commentators believe that these are two separate sayings, right? That the unquenchable fire in 48 is disconnected to the salted with fire in verse 49. Now, as I say that, something we see here is that this, these 49 and 50, these two verses are not mentioned anywhere in the Gospels other than Mark. You don't see them in the Synoptic Gospels, you don't see them anywhere, but right here in Mark. But what we can trust is that we can argue that Mark thought these two verses pretty important to include them in this text. And if we would say Mark thought them important, probably Peter thought them important too, because most of Mark's sermon is based on Peter's sermon in Acts. And we see that these two verses carry some weight. And we can understand that this is likely a shift in context because it's strung together by a tool called a catchword. You see the fire in 48, but then you see a fire in 49, but then you see assault in 49, but then you see assault in 50. You can see how this gets confusing really quickly. But what a catchword is, is in the Eastern culture there was a deep history of oral tradition. Right? You didn't have your cell phones, you didn't have your various copies of the Word of God, you had the stories of God and the scriptures that you memorized and then you spoke and shared through oral tradition. And with that, a common literary mnemonic was what we called a catchword, a teaching held together with hookwords. Right? So the salt of 33 or the fire in 33 brings us to the fire in 48. But then, oh, speaking of fire, here's the fire in 49. But think speaking of salt in 49, here's the salt in 50.

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So these words often helped us string together these teachings, not always in contextual with one another, but they were strung together nonetheless. And likely Mark with his catchword saying, hey, speaking of fire in 48, let's talk about the fire, the salted with fire here in 49. So we can trust that 49 and 50 aren't throwaway verses, they're not tacked on by Mark because he just wants to add some complexity to it. It's something that Jesus is teaching us, and it's something that has rich, rich depth to it. And with that, our title this morning, if you're taking notes, is A Living Sacrifice to the King. And that title is going to make more sense as we work through this passage. So let's start. Let's look at verse 49. For everyone will be salted with fire. What does that mean? What does it mean to be salted with fire? Just before we're met with a fire of judgment, but now there's salt added, and something has changed. The context has shifted, but how so? To us, this may sound very odd and out of place. But to the Israelite, this phrase would have stuck out immediately. Salted with fire. Wait a minute. Hold up. Jesus says salted with fire. Because Jesus is calling back to something. If you go to Leviticus chapter 2, verse 13, you see a lot of the instruction when it came to different various offerings. And specifically in this context, it's the grain offering. The offering that the people brought before the Lord and placed on the altar. And we see in verse 13, you shall season all your grain offerings with salt. Now you shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt. And we see in this passage God's instruction to the grain offering that every offering laid upon the altar must be salted. Not with laid with honey, right? Not laid with any other topping. The only topping you will lay on this grain offering is salt. So it may be pure for God. One would say that this is a preservation of the sacrifice so it may be pure for him when the fire consumes it. Now there's a practical application. You put salt on grain, it's not going to rot and decay and mold up too quickly. That's going to keep it pretty fresh for the offering. But there is a there's a theological weight here. And so what we're given in 48 and 49 is two kinds of fire. We have an unquenchable fire, but then we have a fire of salt. The unquenchable fire, that's the fire that consumes and burns down, destroying what's been rejected. That's the fire of condemnation. That's the fire of hell, right? In Gehenna, what we looked at last week. But here in 49, there's the fire of the refiner. When the silver smith puts silver into the furnace, it's there, it isn't there to destroy the silver, but to purify the silver. To burn off everything that isn't silver and leave behind what is precious. Are you starting to grasp the imagery of what God has done in your sanctification? That he's refining you, Christian. That he's burning off the things that are not important. Malachi 3, verse 2 says, But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings and righteousness to the Lord. This context allows us to understand that the fire is not what changes, but it is the individual who is come in contact with the fire. That for the one outside of Christ, the fire consumes. But for the one in Christ, the fire refines. And in this context, being salted with fire can be seen throughout the Christian life. The believer will face trials, and with those trials, God will continue to mold us and refine us into a living sacrifice. And that brings us to our first point, the fire that refines us. What Jesus is saying here is he's saying, hey guys, listen, you need to wage war on your sin. You need to cleave it away. You need to be done toying with the things that are destroying your relationship with me. Because ultimately, if you play with your sin, you're going to get what you want. And you're going to be consumed by the fire of condemnation. Sin only gives you one thing in life, and that's death and destruction and an eternity in hell. He says, But me, you stay with me. You put your trust in me. I am your Savior. I will refine you. That the fire will come to you, but when it ascends on you, it will not be a fire that consumes you, but a fire that purifies you. The believer will face trials because it will offer us up into a living sacrifice. That's where we get our title this morning specifically from Romans 12, verse 1. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. I think there's this idea that when you come to Christ, it's like you made it. Which I mean you did. You've made it into eternity with him, right? Congratulations. But there's this idea of my, okay, man, it's going to be cushy from here on. I'm on a coast. The quite opposite. That following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. Because what Jesus tells us is that you're going to suffer for me. That you're going to face trials and it's not going to be easy. You're going to be persecuted for my name. But take heart in knowing that I've overcome the world. That if you're persecuted, that's fine. I was persecuted first. Oh, you're going to face trials? Well, don't worry. I face the trials for you. So the trials that you will face, you won't walk alone. But praise God that we don't face the trials just for the sake of facing trials. We face the trials, and in that, God is working in us. God is refining us. God is molding us. And to be an image-bearer of the gospel. Praise God that He loves you enough that even in the hard things, He has purpose. And we see this refinement process supported all through Scripture.

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We see it in 1 Corinthians 3. It says, Each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he is himself will be saved, but only as through fire. First Peter 4, we see Peter say, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. There is a refinement happening in you, Christian. So the question asks, one, are you embracing that refinement? I think many times we can face trials in our lives and we want to turn tail and run and say, God, I don't want to suffer. I don't want to be uncomfortable, God. I really don't. Which is a very honest prayer to have that I think many of us have had. But praise God that it's not a matter if, it's a matter when the trials will come to you, Christian. But take heart and trust and have joy in knowing that my God is at work in something here. And he's refining me. Praise God, he cares about enough, about us enough to shape us, to build us up. And praise him that he's with you in the fire. We serve a God that's with us in it. Just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the fiery furnace, there was a fourth who stood with them. So, same as you are in the fire of refinement, Jesus is with you. He sent his helper to you, the Holy Spirit. Jesus is saying to us here in 49, just as he's saying to the disciples, he says, Listen, guys, quit talking about who's the greatest. Who cares? Get over yourself. Be last. Be a servant. I am the servant king. You are my disciples who are going to serve as well. But take heart in knowing that I love you enough that even when the trials are coming and they're coming, I'm at work in you in it. I mean, look at Jesus to Paul, right? When Paul came to Tarsus, or not Tarsus, but he was going on the road of Damascus, and Jesus appeared to him and converted Paul to Christianity. What did Jesus say about Paul? Did he say, oh man, he's set up, he's gonna be good. No, he is that he's gonna be my tool to bring this word to the Gentiles, and he's gonna suffer much for my name. I hope he's prepared for that. That Jesus knows that what's coming for us. But praise God that he's refining us in it. So take heart, Christian. If your walk with Christ has been a bumpy road, we'll buckle up. Lean into it. But also praise God that, man, even when you're going through this drought in your walk with Christ, you're thinking, man, God's nothing's happening. And I'm just, I'm getting nowhere in my walk. Take heart, he's working in you. He's refining you. Because one day you're gonna look up and go, man, look how far he's brought me. I am no longer who I once was. Jesus is saying here that the fire that ascends on the believer, the one who has given their life to Christ, it is a fire of refinement and purication out of God's love. A fire that refines you to be that living sacrifice, as Romans 12 tells us. Before the God who created you, who sent his son to die for you. And then we see Jesus shift to 50.

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We see the salt of fire in 49, but then we then he focuses on the salt. It's very interesting wordplay that he hits us with. First thing he says, well, first off, salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? He's like, salt's good, but I mean, if the salt's not salty, how are we gonna make it salty? It's like, do you have some salt for my salt? Right? It's like, what are you talking about, Jesus? I don't get this. Let's break it down. So the first thing we see is salt is good. Okay. We can take that. And salt is good. I mean, I love salt. And church, if your spouse is getting on to you about the sodium that you are consuming, just take heart that Jesus told you salt is good. Right? Praise God. Amen. I can't say that's more Carrie. Carrie likes the seasonings. I'm more bland, I guess. But salt was necessary in the first century. Right? Salt was vital to life. I mean, it preserved the food, it purified, but it also seasoned. I mean, can you imagine eating manna in first century church? I mean, you know what it's like to get like stale old bread. Well, that's like the daily in first century. Salt was a good thing. But something here that we're seeing is that salt isn't just about its practical application, there's something deeper here. And we see salt used in the Old Testament all over. Salt meant permanence, salt meant a relationship, but one that is never going away. That is never decaying, that's never rotting. And I love that if we go back to Leviticus 2, he says the covenant of salt, or the salt of the covenant. Did you catch that? The salt of the covenant. He used a terminology there that he uses again in the Old Testament. God wanted to describe a covenant that would not break, a covenant that would not wear away, a covenant that would not decay. He called it a covenant of salt. A relationship that does not rot, a bond that does not fade. He refines us because he is permanently committed to us. You have a God that loves you, Christian, that is for you, that he's not going anywhere, that he's preserving this covenant. We see this symbolism again in Numbers 18, 19. All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord, I give to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you. We see it again as he describes the Davidic covenant, right? The covenant of he will establish a line through David, right? That would ultimately lead to Jesus coming to the cross. 2 Chronicles 13, ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt. It's interesting that God is hitting that imagery again and again and again. And imagine the Israelite that knows that terminology, right? The covenant of salt, the salt covenant, and here Jesus is saying, salt is good. Have salt in yourself, but also you'll be salted with fire. There's this depth that the Israelite is so weighted in, and it's a weight that I want us to feel. Because God is amazing. The moment we think we've met the depths of God's wisdom and the God's beauty, we just keep going. But Jesus was also conveying another idea here. That salt is good, but it can lose its saltiness. And then that asks the redundant question well, how do we make it salty again if it's lost its saltiness? That might seem weird to us, but Jesus was drawing on a very common understanding in this time period in this region, because the local area, most of the salt used for the Israelites. Was derived from the Dead Sea. Now, if you don't know what the Dead Sea is, the Dead Sea was called the Dead Sea because it's so salty that everything dies in it. That's so salty that when you float in the Dead Sea, you float at the top of it because it literally lifts you up all the salt. And as the individuals would harvest salt from the water of the Dead Sea, very often they would acquire this very impure form of salt. Now, salt in and of itself is pure, right? Sodium chloride. But when deriving it from the water, it's this combination of minerals. And easily, as they would harvest the salt from the Dead Sea, as they would they would boil it off and the salt would be left, many times the pure salt would leach out, only leaving a remnant of impure minerals like gypsum or something like that behind. Something that looks like salt but has no flavor and has no property to preserve or to purify. Just as the salt from the Dead Sea can be a hollow shell, so can you, Christian, be a shell of religious practice. That's what Jesus is getting at. He said, listen, guys, you're going to be purified. You're going to be refined. That you walk with me, I'm going to mold you into something that's far greater than what you ever could imagine. But take heart in knowing that I'm with you, but also be aware that you need to stay with me. Because you can fall away and let what's so precious to you just leach out until you're just empty religious practice, a hollow shell. When the gospel takes roots in our lives, we are transformed. And in this relationship with Christ, our Heavenly Father is refining us, He's pruning us, He's molding us into something so great. But Jesus is warning us we can lose the salt. We can lose the thing that sets us apart. And that's our second point this morning: the salt that must reside in us. And we see that in 40 or in 50A, he says salt is good, but then he kind of hits it at the very end of 50B. He says, so keep the salt in you, right? Let the salt be within you. We must understand that we can lose our seasoning, Christian. That you've been seasoned, but you can lose it. You can keep the outward shape of a follower of Jesus and have the real thing quietly leaching out of you. Matthew 15, 8, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. He says they say they love me, but I don't know them. They say they speak many things in my name, but depart from me. I never knew you. What a sobering thing to hear. And how do we lose the salt? How does the gospel leech out of our lives? Well, we lose the salt when our hands, feet, and eyes seek the unholy things in life. When we take our eyes off the one who has called us to live a different life. That's why Jesus, this is piggybacking off Jesus' point. He says, cut away your sin. Amputate it. Quit playing with it because you're going to lose the salt that is so important. That the gospel isn't going to make a difference in your life if you're not committed to it. Now, this is not a question of salvation. Hear me there. This is not saying that you're going to lose your salvation, but what it does say is unless the purity of the gospel in its proclamation, and unless the purity of the gospel in its application is at work in our lives, then we must face the question of 50A. Where's your salt? Did you lose your salt? How do you get the salt back? Are we presenting ourselves in the way we think, the way we talk, the way we act, as a living sacrifice? Romans 12, 1. A living sacrifice to the one who has called us to live that way. Or are we just doing whatever we want? And just saying, I got my get out of jail free card. I'm good. But Jesus is calling to something richer, something greater. Not to gain his favor, but out of sheer love and knowledge that he first loved you. Having salt in ourselves is not a call to be more impressive. I think many times we can take the salt imagery of the gospel and say, oh, we're just trying to be influential in the world. I mean, yeah, praise God, be influential.

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State your claim in the world and say, yeah, I serve Jesus. This is why I'm doing what I'm doing. But it's a call to have Christ at the center. So often we can make this as some who's greater. I'm going to build myself up. I'm going to make myself really just a powerhouse for the gospel. I'm going to be one of God's best tools. And what are you found at the end? It was all in vain. You're just building up a kingdom that couldn't stand. When Christ is saying, no, no, if you put me at the center, I'm going to do the refining. I'm going to get you there. And in the gospel of your life, it's going to produce salt. And salt's a good thing. It's a salt that purifies, it's a salt that preserves, it's a salt that stands out, right? Just as in the gospel we see, be salt and light. You're going to make a difference, trust me. Because I made the difference. I am the difference. It's Jesus working in me. It's not true. I could do all the things in the world, but it's going to be a waste of time if Jesus is not at the center. The gospel is what produces salt within us. Jesus is calling us to be the salt of the covenant. You get it? Like God's so good. I mean, I've been geeking out all week over this. Are you kidding me? I've been on fire for the Lord this week because, man, I'm living the salt of the covenant. God is good. A covenant preserved for you, Christian. Do you get that? That God in David's time, God in Leviticus was saying, no, no, no, I'm preserving this covenant. This covenant that one day is going to bless these people because I'm going to send my son for them. Do you get that? That in the earliest days of our earth, God was creating a path of redemption for you. He deserves nothing less but your entire life, Christian. He deserves nothing less but everything because he has given you everything. He has given you the salt of the covenant. The salt in ourselves is not a self-improvement call, it's a covenantal call. Jesus is calling you back to the covenant. He's saying, Be with me. We are one people. I need you to be my people. Quit flirting with your sin. Quit playing around. Who cares if you're great? Right? You can just see it to the disciples. Disciples are starting to click, oh man, we were wrong back in verse 33. And Jesus is calling us to be in verse 49 and 50. He's calling us to embody covenantal faithfulness, to be committed to him regardless of the cost, regardless of what it brings to you. And through that, you will stand out in the world. You will be salt Christian. I promise you. Pursue Jesus. Everything else will sort itself out. Trust in Jesus. Everything's going to be okay. You want there to be salt in your personal life? Trust Jesus. If you want there to be salt in your marriage, trust Jesus. If you want there to be salt in this church, we better trust Jesus. Because without it, salt has lost its flavor, and you're an impure mineral that has no purpose. And then finally, he brings it home with the second half of verse 50. And what does he say? He said, have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another. Here's our inclusio, right? He says, here's our bookend. He says, you're fighting, you're fighting, you're bickering, you're complaining, seeing who's going to be the greatest. Quit losing your salt. Trust in me. Be refined by me. Let me give you the salt. And in that salt, be at peace. Let it produce peace among you. We can take from this build that the peace comes from the salt. The salt comes from the gospel. If you have the gospel in your life and we are a gospel-centered people, we will be a peaceful people among each other. And that brings us to our final point, the peace that unites us. Having Christ at the center of our life, allowing the gospel to work out in our life, is what unites us as a body of believers. Despite our backgrounds, despite our political opinions, our upbringings, our origins, whatever, it doesn't matter who you are, it does not matter how different you are. You are unified on Christ, plain and simple. The salt that resides in you, Christian, is the salt that binds you, Christian. You get that? I mean, it's so good. That's so amazing. And when we lose focus in the gospel in our lives, then we quickly spend too much time bickering over stupid things. Quickly we start fighting one another. What's the greatest way to tear down a kingdom? It's from the inside. We are called to be a peaceful people with one another. I mean, look at the disciples. What a ragtag group of people. Can you only imagine the way they complained about one another? Because they're human. And that's what we do, right? Can you imagine that? Like, oh my gosh, Thomas, if he if he freaks out one more time and he asks for one more evidence to believe, I'm gonna slap him.

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I mean, you've got to hear it, right? Oh my gosh. If the sons of thunder call fire from heaven one more time today, I'm gonna lose it. Right? Oh my gosh, if Peter cuts off one more guy's ear, I'm gonna lose my mind. That's the disciples. I mean, they are bickering the whole time. And you just see Jesus being like, get over yourselves. They had no business being an effective group. A couple fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, all these ragtab group of people, and and they're gonna be the ones that establishes the greatest mission in the world of ushering in God's kingdom? God, are you sure this is the team you want? Are you sure this is who you want to build this church with? Yeah, because it's me building it. It's God. It's not the disciples. Right? What more glory is there than seeing this ragtab group of people be changed from the inside? Now they're producing salt. And now they're living peacefully with one another. And then that first thing you see is, man, who is this salt and light walking through Jerusalem? If you don't believe Jesus refines you, if you don't believe that Jesus instills in you evidence of his gospel, look at the disciples. I mean, these men who were bickering, who is the greatest, and now they're giving their life for the gospel. You look at Peter, who's sitting here complaining about it, and he's the one who said, Crucify me upside down, because I'm not worthy to be killed like my Savior. I mean, that's a different Peter. Thomas, you said, I don't believe you, Jesus, unless I can see your nail-pierced hands. And then you see Thomas give his life for the gospel. Jesus hears their hearts, and who is greater, he addresses their hearts and commands them to live at peace with one another. In the ancient world, sharing salt was something often associated as a binding together. Like we established, salt was vital in the ancient Near East. It was a very valuable, precious thing to have. And to share that with another person, oftentimes, saying, I'm bound to you, that we have an invested interest together. If I'm going to give you salt, that connects us. That preserves this relationship. That purifies our relationship. Adds a little bit more weight to the salt of the covenant, doesn't it? When in that context, it's that, oh man, we're invested in each other's lives. Well, God says, I've made a covenant of salt for you. I'm invested into you. We must understand that we are invested to one another. That this peace in the body isn't a command because it's a sweet sentiment. It's nice. I like going to church where I'm peaceful with my brothers and sisters in Christ. But it's more than that. It's covenant solidarity. That God is saying, come back to the covenant, be faithful to me. And a faithful people is a loving people. A faithful people is a peaceful people. And when we're peaceful in this church, that is the salt working among us. A community living peacefully with one another in a world of chaos and destruction. You want to be a stark contrast, you want to be light and salt to a world that is bland and dark? Be peaceful. I mean, that's going to stand out pretty quick. I'll never forget growing up in our college ministry, the amount of times people would be like, How are you guys friends? I'm like, Jesus, it's great, man. Come check it out. Because people would be like, what a ragtag group of people. And praise God that he works with those people to plant a church. And he's working in this ragtab group of people to build the church and to advance his kingdom and share the gospel. What better witness is that? What better witness than going out and proclaiming the gospel, but then living that gospel out in such a way that people look at this church and saying, there's something different about risen life. There's something different about those people. They love one another. They're sacrificial to one another. And not only that, they're sacrificial to the people outside that group. And they're growing that group. And that church body gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and more peace and more joy and more sacrifice is had. Praise God. God is at work in this body of believers, and he's at work in his global church. And his global church is called to be salt, but his global church is called to live in peace with one another. I pray that we're never the church that argues over the carpet. Get over ourselves. We got bigger things to do than worry about what the color of the walls are going to be. Because this church isn't what makes us. It's God who makes us. It's the gospel in the center of our life. It's the God and His Son who came and died on a cross for you. What a great way to be salt to the world around us and when we live peacefully. Take heart in being refined, Christian. Keep the salt within you and live at peace with one another. We're going to close here. And the key to the Christian life, if you want to take anything from today, is to be gospel centered. Take the gospel and be with it. Marinate on it. Let it change you in every corner of your life. Don't give your part of yourself to the gospel. Give everything you have to the gospel. You won't regret doing it. How do we live peacefully with one another? Pursue the gospel. How do we cling to each other while waging war on the sin of our lives? Cling to the gospel. How do we spur one another on so that we finish the race and we keep the faith? Cling to the gospel. We lay hold to the gospel in all things. We commit to the one who saved us despite the cost. He who refines us through trials, strengthening us, and instilling boldness in us. A life bearing witness to the one to be salt and light to the world, a salt that he's producing in you, when you just give him yourself and you commit to him and you're faithful to him. He who refines us, who bears witness to us, and a community of believers marked by peace and joy. The passage, much like this one and the ones that came before in nine, is sobering and it's challenging. But it begs us to ask the hard questions, and that's why it's challenging. Because it forces a mirror and really makes you look at yourself and asks the question: are you playing with your sin? Are you toying with something that is destroying you? Trust me in that, it's destroying you. Do you stand before trials with joy knowing that your God is at work in you? Are you taking hold of this gospel seriously, a gospel that changes you from the inside and creates a life of salt? Because it was a covenant of salt established before you before you were born? Are you living peacefully with your brothers and sisters on mission together, loving each other sacrificially? And it maybe even begs the hardest question: do you know Christ this morning? Is he Lord in your life? Because I love you enough to tell you that if you do not know Christ, and if you have not taken him as Lord in your life and put your trust in his finished work on the cross, you will face a fire, but it will not be a fire of refinement. It will be a fire of condemnation, an unquenchable fire for eternity. I don't want you to go there. I don't want you to, I don't want any of us to experience that. But I love you enough to tell you that if you do not have Christ's blood atoning for your sins, that when you stand before the King, you will stand in judgment. But if you have Christ, the one who loves you and refines you, you will stand. And he says, Don't look at their sin. Look at my righteousness that I gave to them. That is your Savior. And how great is our God. We are each called to bear a cross, but praise God that He bore a cross so heavier than what we ever have to bear. Do you understand that you could never bear the cross that Jesus bore for you? It's easy to lay down our life sacrificially for Christ when Christ means more to me than my life. I want our church to get to that place. Doesn't matter. Jesus is everything to me. How easy it is to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to our God when He has refined you and He has established the salt in you and He has established the peace within you because you have committed yourself wholeheartedly to His gospel. That's your charge, Christian. And if you do not know Christ this morning, please do not leave this place without finding me, Josh, Pat. We'd love to walk you through that. We're gonna close this morning with a song. Now we're a little short this morning. The band's a little thin. So we're gonna sing a cappella this morning. Now, what might look like a disadvantage, I see it as an amazing opportunity to be a living sacrifice as a body of believers, to sing with everything we have this morning as a faith family. Who needs instruments when we are the voice singing to our God. Taylor is gonna lead us through this. My encouragement is we stand and we sing this loud. And if you need to pray, pray. If you need to come to the altar, come to the altar. And we're gonna be a living sacrifice right now for the Lord. And he's gonna be joyful in it.