Articles

Matthew 5:14-16

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

This week, my family and I and a few friends went to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. Wow! Simply wow! I would encourage you to go if you can and see what the Ark may have looked like. See the size of the vessel and see how the space could easily have housed many animals and the food the people needed and left a lot of space for walking, as well as giving the families space to live. I was astonished by the amount of people that we saw there. We met people from Oklahoma, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois and many others. The parking lot was quite full, and the buses were full, taking people from the parking lots to the actual facility.

When we were through, we had the chance to enjoy several concerts with Southern Gospel bands. In this auditorium, there may have been a thousand people or so who were worshiping the Lord. As we were there, we learned that over the eight years that the Ark Encounter has been open, some 50 hotels had been built in the area. This tells me that Christians from all over the world have attended and have the economic capacity to drive change if we want to. We could have more and more faith-based businesses if we wished to, but we don’t.

Brothers and Sisters, the verses in Matthew that we are considering tell us that we, you and I, are light. We are to shed light into the dark corners of the world, exposing evil and offering guidance to Jesus, the Way. But many of us have shrunk into the shadows ourselves. In Matthew 5:13, we are called ‘salt.’

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

Salt, as we know, flavors food, but it is most often used as a preservative. Salt slows down the breakdown of foods and allows it to last longer. We are supposed to preserve the people of the earth, to help them have more time to see the grace of God and have the opportunity to be saved. We are a preservative that is supposed to slow down the societal breakdown and slow the coming judgment. We are here to extend God’s grace, extend God’s patience, and offer more and more opportunities to be saved. There are a lot of us. No one thought that a Bible-based ‘amusement’ park would be viable, but it is. It is economically viable to the Christians who invested in it and for the secular businesses around them.

If we want bad businesses to stop existing, Christians have the financial power to do so. We can focus our money on either bolstering or bankrupting a business. We have seen that with companies like Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby. If we want businesses to thrive and not have to open 7 days a week, we can do that. This is the kind of salt and light that we are called to be. We have the power to make or break things. If we wanted ‘drag-queen’ story hour to stop, we could. Just take our kids out of the schools and home school instead, and start more church-based Christian schools; we have the economic power and the financial ability to do so if we want. It would appear that we do not want to.

If we wanted, we could run and fund those campaigns to put Godly men and women on our school boards, on our city councils, and on our state/provincial legislators and truly make lasting changes that would last for generations.

Imagine what would have happened in the last 8 years if President Trump had not nominated conservative judges to the US Supreme Court. Roe vs Wade would not have been revisited and overturned, as well as many laws supporting gun ownership and the like would have been struck down, further empowering the government. Imagine what would happen here in Canada if we had seriously fiscal and morally conservative majorities in our Parliament? But somewhere along the line, somewhere in our history, we Christians became hands-off when it came to politics.

We did not want to lead any longer; we just sat in the background and hoped for the best. Look where that has gotten us. The drag queens are mainstream, and we are the fringe, and there are millions more of us than they. We stopped being salt and light. We stopped slowing the decay, and we have stood by as these people who Jesus died for are heading to Hell, and we have become spectators to their demise. ‘They are just getting what they deserve,’ but that is the whole point of the Gospel: the people, we included, DO NOT get what we deserve; instead, we are graced into the loving family of God.

Sadly, a large part of the Christian populace has stopped sharing the Gospel. We just stopped telling others about Jesus. We stopped making a difference, and this is what light and salt do best; they make a difference for the good. We stopped being light in the dark places. We stopped being salt in the rotting places. Now, the world we are leaving our kids is darker than it has ever been, and the rot is pungent. We stopped slowing the decay. But if we wanted to, we still could slow the rotting and shed light on the darkness; we have the economic power and the population density to do it.

I have a pastoral acquaintance who once commented that he had not properly prepared for retirement because he thought Jesus would have come back by now. Jesus has not come back, and we don’t know when He will.

What will happen to the world we leave our kids and grandkids if we refuse to invest our money and economic powers in the good?

What if there were Biblical theme parks all over?

What if all conservative churches made a covenant not to allow any more of our kids to be raised by LGBTQ teachers and the like?

What if we stopped supporting businesses that were hostile to godly beliefs and put our money or started businesses that did not even have to be preachy, just not hostile to the Lord?

What if we truly wanted to be Light and Salt?

What if we could picture everyone we meet in Hell for 5 seconds? How would that change our lives and the way we live? How would it change me? How would it change our churches?

What if by being salt and light we bought a little more time, a little more grace to offer a few more people the opportunity to be saved?

The Ark Encounter was eye-opening, not only to the Ark story itself in Genesis 6-9 but the power that we have as God’s people to affect change if we want to. I pray we will want to. There are millions of lost people that need us to want to.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How To Connect with Us

On Facebook (live broadcast of Sunday’s Message at 11 am): https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09

Online: https://www.mmbchurch.ca

Email: support@mmbchurch.ca

1 Samuel 18:5-16; Proverbs 26:12, 27:2

Greatness, according to the world’s standards, is measured by things such as achievements, status, education, wealth, and individual or corporate contributions to society. While these traits are admirable, they can also be a source of pride, selfishness, self-centeredness, and arrogance. God’s definition of greatness is different. It is not defined in terms of material indulgence or satisfaction but instead is based upon how we live our lives, leaving behind a testimony of character and a good reputation. This is especially true for anyone who defines themselves as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our talk about Jesus should be in line with our walk. This principle was present in the life of godly men and women who graced the pages of the Old Testament. In our look at the life of David, we read that his character and reputation were built upon God’s definition of what makes a person great.

1 Samuel 18:5-16 gives us the background:

“So, David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he behaved wisely. And Saul sent him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. Now it happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So, the women sang as they danced, and said: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousand.’ Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him, and he said, ‘They have ascribed to David ten thousand, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?’ So, Saul eyed David from that day forward.

“And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So, David played music with his hand as at other times, but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. Saul cast the spear, for he said, ‘I will pin David to the wall.’ But David escaped his presence twice. Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul. Therefore, Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a captain over a thousand, and he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them” (NKJV).

Three times in this chapter, we read the phrase, “David behaved himself wisely.” It means “to walk properly” or “a person who knows how to carry themselves.” This goes beyond just having good manners (which would benefit this nation and the world today) but also refers to anybody who watches what they say, what they do, and how they act because they know they are being watched. In other words, we see the development of maturity and responsibility in David even though he is still a youth.

After David defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17:48-52), he then continued to prove himself to be a loyal and faithful subject as the days progressed. He did not allow his ego to override his responsibilities. While David had been anointed to be the next king of Israel, he also knew that he needed to take each step one at a time and not let ambition get in the way of God’s perfect timing. Even when Saul tried to kill him, David carried himself in the right way by not allowing bitterness, anger, or sense of revenge to overcome him. He continued instead to set a good example.

By the providence of God, he had become more popular than Saul, had married into Saul’s family, and had been both blessed and made prosperous greatly throughout Israel. David did not let any of this take precedence over his desire to wait upon the LORD. He continued to carry himself in spite of the opportunity for self-promotion.

David set priorities in his life that overcame the difficulties he faced from Saul (vv.10-11). David knew that the king was against him, yet he kept his composure and played the harp in front of Saul. He had a job to do and did it faithfully. David showed his steadfastness by keeping calm even though Saul attempted to kill him, not once, but twice! David kept at his post. He knew that Saul’s rage would not prevent him from what God had established.

We read that Saul hated David and wanted him dead. Saul looked at David with the eyes of a jealous man who was everything he was not. Saul saw how David carried himself and kept himself clean morally. In the beginning, Saul had shown promise but instead lived a life of defiance before the LORD. As a result, God took the kingdom away from him and had given it to a peasant boy who had herded sheep for his father’s house. While Saul had all the trappings of royalty and nobility, David wrapped himself in the robe of faith and devotion to God in spite of the circumstances.

David’s character did not go unnoticed by Saul’s subjects, servants, and immediate family. He had the love of Michal, Saul’s daughter, and of Jonathan, who saw in David the noble and godly character that would shape his life in the years to come.

The main point is that David relied upon the LORD and was devoted to doing His will no matter what was going on around him. He behaved and carried himself as a real man of God and someone whom the people trusted and loved.

What a difference between the example of David and the examples of “manhood” that society has imposed upon us in these last days! Today’s latte-sipping, bun-wearing, effeminate soy-boys who still live with their parents and complain about everything while posting memes on their thousand-dollar phones and laptops are unbiblical examples of what God expects of men. Men like David are hard to find, but, thank the LORD, they are still around, taking on the responsibility expected of them, caring for their families, earning a living, and being role models for their wives and children in accordance with God’s Word.

May the LORD forgive us for letting the world tell us how to act as men and women of God. Let us reclaim the standards set before us in Scripture and be able to stand before the LORD Jesus, presenting Him the fruit of our labor, done in His will. Do not end up, as many will, with the smell of smoke upon them and nothing in their hands except the charred remains of wood, hay, and stubble (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

donaldwhitchard@outlook.com

The Ark Encounter :: By Sean Gooding

How God Defines Greatness (1 Samuel 18:5-16) :: By Donald Whitchard