September 22^nd, 1993 “Ye are the Salt of the Earth” Bro. G.B. Solomon

Matthew 5: 13 “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

Our Christian lives and our testimonies are compared to salt. The Lord is giving great importance to salt in the New Testament. And in the Old Testament also, God has given great importance to salt. Leviticus 2: 13 “And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.”

The Lord is giving great importance to Christian life and Christian testimony and Christian example. What is the importance of salt? Salt is used for a very important purpose. The first purpose for which salt is used is to give taste to your food. Without salt, you cannot relish your food. In the same way, if your example is not good, your life will be insipid. If your testimony is spoilt, your Christian life is worthless. That is why you must keep your testimony very clean, holy and true.

The second important purpose of salt is, it is used as a preservative. A true Christian's life and testimony preserves life in this world. Since this Fellowship started 58 years ago, how many lives have been preserved in this country and in many other countries. How many people have received life! So many souls have been preserved from danger and destruction.

In the days of Joseph also, the lives of many people were preserved, who would otherwise have been destroyed. How? Joseph kept his life and example very clean by running away from sin. His testimony was preserved faultless. It was a very great event when Joseph met his brothers in Egypt. They thought that he had died, and so he was not in their thoughts at all. When they went to buy corn for their families, for sometime he shook them up a bit. He wanted to lead them to repentance. When they began to acknowledge their sin, he revealed himself. Genesis 45: 4 & 5 “And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you; I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me here; for God did send me before you to preserve life.” “God Himself has sent me here in advance for such a time as this, to preserve life.” What a testimony! He was not blaming his brothers.

When in trouble, some people begin to blame this man and that man. In some families, the wives blame their husbands, and the husbands blame their wives. “Because of you I am suffering like this. You are the cause of all this trouble in our family.” In some offices also, if something goes wrong, people begin to blame each other. But a man who loves the Lord and follows the Lord faithfully, will be full of love and will not blame this man or that man. “May be the Lord has sent this trouble to teach me something very valuable”, he will say.

Once, a saint of God became sick. In his sickness he prayed, “Lord, do not heal me until you teach me the lesson you wanted me to learn”. What a good heart he had! Some people began to murmur. “I am such a good man, such a good woman. Unnecessarily, I am suffering like this. I don't know why God should send this trouble to me.” So they blame other people, and also grumble against God.

“Do not be grieved, because you sold me away, nor even be angry with yourselves, for God did send me before you to preserve life.” A true Christian will take everything in the right way. That is why a true Christian's faith and life is compared to salt. We must always be very careful to see that we follow the Lord faithfully, even when we face trouble, difficulty, or a problem. A man like Joseph has become a great blessing to millions of people throughout time.

Mr. Daniel was very young when he was converted. He used to pray very often, “Lord, make me like Joseph”. When he was sixty years old, the Lord called him one day and said, “Daniel, you prayed to me to make you like Joseph. Now I have made you really like Joseph.” Joseph is a fruitful bough, which spreads its branches over the wall. Exactly this happened in the lives of the founders of this Fellowship. They have become a great blessing to thousands and millions of people in this world. Many lives have been preserved in so many countries.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us be careful to maintain our Christian example spotless. Then you will be a fruitful bough, and God will bless you abundantly and will make you a blessing to many people. The servants of God, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel have been blessed to be a blessing to many. As for myself, I have received a great blessing through them after I came to this Fellowship. We must be grateful to the Lord for His good servants, who have taught us this most holy faith. Let us preserve our salt from losing its savour. If salt loses its savour, it cannot be salted again by any means. It has to be cast out to be trodden under the foot of men. If your example is stained, your life will not be worth anything for God. Let us be very careful!