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Salted with Fire Mark 9:49-50 READ

One of the hardest scriptures of the NT

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

1. To be seasoned with fire is to be chastised

• The 49 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Is a very contested verse with many scholars differing on its meaning
• First- we are transitioning from the discourse about Hell and the eternal nature if towards those who refuse Christ’s free gift of grace
• Second- the statement ‘for everyone’ isn’t to imply that everyone is going to Hell as much as it is implying that everyone is going to go through fire.
• Fire isn’t always a bad thing in the Bible. This isn’t to say that everyone is going to go through Hell, but everyone on this earth is going to go through stuff in their life. “salted with fire”

• Salt is the process by which a piece of meat would be prepared to be a sacrifice for the Lord in the OT and now, we too must be ‘seasoned’ (salted) with fire to prepare us to be a sacrifice for the Lord. Anything that isn’t salted isn’t acceptable to the Lord
• Salt is the spiritual element that purifies sacrifices and keeps it from spoiling- from being destroyed.
• When we salt meat we preserve it, when we are salted we are preserved, and it takes fire to do so.
• Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
• Christ promised us the Holy Ghost and he promised us fire. The Holy Ghost is the seal of our salvation and the fire is the refining cleanser of our souls to prepare us for being a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God
• Jesus said Luke 12:49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
• 1 Corinthians 3:13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

• 1 Peter 1:7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
• that “fire” represents the righteousness of God manifested as punishing and chastising—the discipline, in other words, of suffering of the righteous
• Of that discipline, Jesus says “every one” shall be a partaker.
• He shall be “salted with fire,” fthat fire and the purpose of the sufferings which it represents, is to purify and cleanse.
• However horrible it may be, the Bible still declares that even the righteous will experience the fire of suffering and chastisement
• Many people in the Bible experiences calamity because they were followers of God. Join them!
• Read Isaiah 33:14-15 The promise is that even the righteous will be burned
• What does it mean to you?
• Embrace the fire! READ 1 Peter 4:12-16 do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you
• As a Christian, you are going to go through it! Welcome to the fire-
• But here’s what’s happening- God is refining you through the fire- you learn through the fire- God does stuff in the fire
• I have been serving God long enough, and been through the fire enough ,that I can recognize when God is doing it to me, or allowing me to go through it
• It isn’t fun, but is the process by which is prepares me for the future and for heaven
• This is why I’m always concerned with theologies that omit the pains of the Christian life
• The Christian life IS a blessed life, I love it- but there are times when God allows us to suffer as a Christian
• Its hard to hold your tongue, think correctly about people, make the right decisions

• It’s a constant battle, but in that fire of fighting the flesh- we learn how to depend and trust and love God-
• When I was in high school I was on the wrestling team. 3 hour practices 5 days a week for a 6 minute match. Utterly painful. Hardest physical activity I’ve ever done. Literally more physically demanding than the Army- basic was easy.
• But the fire of practice prepared you for the fight.
• My love for God always deepens when I’m going through the fire- because I’m depending on him
• Some people can’t get through anything in their Christian walk because they don’t embrace the fire.
• Weirsbe said “Would you rather endure the fires of hell as a lost sinner or the purifying fires of God as a sacrifice for his glory?”
• One of my struggles is that lack empathy for people who have been around Christianity for over five years that can’t seem to figure it out.

• Every sacrifice must be salty
• Here’s what you need to understand- every sacrifice must be salty to be pleasing to God
• Salt in Leviticus 2:13 And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.
• If a sacrifice is going to be pleasing to God, it must be salted. We are salted with the fire of the Holy Spirit
• The 49 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
• We offer our bodies, soul, and spirit up to the Lord
• Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
• This is why I always struggle when people don’t want to join up with their fellow believers, have no interest in the things of God, refuse to serve, refuse to tithe, argue with scriptures, fight with other believers.
• Your whole life is supposed to be laid upon the altar towards God as an acceptable sacrifice!

• Maybe the problem for many people is that they haven’t been baptized with the Holy Spirit, they are trying to do all of this on their own strength
• Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
• We are flesh and blood and we must be salted in some fashion for sacrifice
• Genesis 6:3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
• Psalm 78:39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.
• We must offer ourselves as a sacrifice, but it must be a salty one
• What does it mean to you?
• Get salted! 1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

• YOU are the sacrifice. Are you salted?
• Jesus is looking for sacrifices from our lives with eternal, long term, and abiding commitments in our lives and lifestyles.
• He does not want any offerings made out of the emotional need of a moment or a knee jerk action. He wants salted offerings, through the fire of discipline, filled with the fire of the HS
• You must be filled with the Holy Spirit. You must be salted with the Fire. Embrace it, seek it, want it, be consumed by it
• Difference between Kia Rio and Dodge Magnum. Bro- you GO
• If you’re not seeking after the power of the Holy Spirit, you’re going to be struggling you’re going up James Hill in 1^st gear in 1.3L Engine

1. The salt of the NT is the grace of God on our lives- don’t lose it

• 50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?
• The challenge of Christ is that if we lose our saltiness, we can’t be seasoned
• Saltiness of the fire of discipline, saltiness of the Holy Spirit, the effect of which is Grace upon our lives
• If we resist the chastisement of the Lord and his discipline, we lose our saltiness
• Its what preserves us. Its what keeps us humble. It keeps us at the throne of grace
• If we don’t stay salted, we become like honey- a ingredient in sacrifices to false Gods
• Its interesting, a little bit of salt goes a long way- its never the main ingredient, but without it, food is tasteless.
• Hebrews 12:3-11 READ

• Embrace the chastisement! Its helping you! Say “thank you Jesus!”
• Job 5:17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
• Psalm 118:18 The Lord has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death.
• If you don’t walk in the Spirit, you’ll lose your saltiness
• Many people will get saved, follow Jesus, and then somehow they lose sight of what they were saved from and what God has called them to do
• They are walking in the flesh and not in the spirit
• Romans 8:1 [ Free from Indwelling Sin ] There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
• Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
• Rom 8:13 For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.
• Gal 3:3 ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
• If you don’t let grace have its effect, you’ll lose your saltiness
• Let God salt you, let the HS keep you salty, but live salty
• This is why Jesus says “what good is it”

• If you are saved and you are a jerk you are not living how Jesus wants you to live
• Your saltiness should be apparent to all that you come in contact with
• When Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
• Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
• Is to say that when you season your speech with grace, you’re salting the conversation and preserving your witness and the relationship
• But with no salt- no grace. The NT effect of the fire is the salt of grace.

1. Stay in the grace of God- it will give you peace with others

• “Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another”
• What good is it if we are refined, we are filled and live in grace and it doesn’t extend to other people?
• I will tell you. It is worthless. It has no value. How we treat one another and how we interact with one another says everything about what we believe
• Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers,  For they shall be called sons of God.
• Proverbs 12:20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy.
• This is why Jesus admonishes his disciples to live at peace with others
• Paul said

• Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
• Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
• Folks, we serve a God of reconciliation. We serve a God of love and mercy.
• Members of God’s church and this church should always be seeking after peace. They should always be willing to forgive, and to have a spirit of peace
• This what we as Christians are called to do and be. We are the peacemakers of God. We are the ones who act differently than the world. We treat people differently and we do things better
• We are representatives of Jesus Christ and our conduct should reflect that.