So this is Luke chapter 14 and verse 34 and it's the Lord that is speaking and he's speaking to his disciples. Salt is good, but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor yet for the dunghill. but men cast it out.

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Amen. May the Lord bless this little reading from his word. Salt, let me read it again. Salt is good, but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

This chapter 14 is closing with this short discourse from the Lord upon the worth and usefulness of salt. The Lord employed the symbolism of salt several times during his ministry to convey spiritual lessons and to teach his disciples spiritual truth.

He told his disciples in Matthew 5, verse 13, for example, Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. He said in Mark 9 verse 50, salt is good, but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

In each of these examples, it appears the Lord is emphasising the value of salt when it is fit for purpose. Now the purpose of salt, naturally speaking, is either to preserve meat or to season food in order to enhance its taste, to improve its flavour, to make it more appetising and to make it more desirable, more savoury. However, the Lord as he's speaking about the usefulness of salt, immediately qualifies this statement of usefulness by noting the uselessness of salt.

When it loses its saltiness and its power to preserve or to improve and enhance food is lost, when it isn't fit for purpose, It is good for nothing. It loses all its value. It isn't even fit, says the Lord, for putting on the land or in a dung heap. It's good for nothing but to be thrown into the street, to be walked on, just like the dust of the ground.

And what is eminently clear is that the Lord's words have a spiritual dimension, a spiritual meaning, and are to be spiritually understood. by those to whom it is given to receive divine truth and gospel wisdom. The Lord says, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. So this is like the parables that the Lord was frequently speaking. They were given with a general wisdom, with a natural, earthly wisdom. but with a spiritual dimension that would become significant, obvious, beneficial to the hearts and souls of those who were spiritually attuned. And there is a spiritual message to be discovered here as well by those who have ears to hear, those whose ears are attuned to Christ and his gospel of free and sovereign grace.

The Lord says to his disciples, ye are the salt of the earth, which seems to be drawing a parallel between the work of the gospel ministry and good salt. That which characterised the apostles was their role and responsibility as gospel ministers, as those who would carry on Christ's work and take it into all the world. And so the Lord is identifying that ministry with good salt.

The apostles' preaching would be a preserving and edifying ministry if it was faithful to Christ's gospel. It would benefit the church. It would be wholesome and savoury. It would be a useful additive to improve the spiritual experience of God's elect. And it seems that the apostles themselves are intended when the Lord says, ye are the salt of the earth.

The apostolic ministry and the labour of these men, the labour that they were about to embark upon under the terms of the Great Commission would itself be a gospel work to alter the Gentile world, to change the course of world history and perform a preserving work by which the nations and cultures and individuals would be freed and kept from rottenness, and be transformed from the corruption of sin and the service of Satan to pursue holiness and righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. And I think that the Lord's teaching to his disciples would be a great encouragement to them. If not immediately, then surely in days to come when it became apparent what their role and service to the cause of Christ would be. The success of the Apostles' ministry would be evident by the sweet and savoury message that they would fetch to sinners when they preached the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

The power of their preaching would preserve men's lives from corruption and the destruction that must follow if mercy and forgiveness is not obtained. Not that they were themselves saving men, but they were declaring the means by which men are saved.

And the true and faithful quality of the preached word. Let me say that again. The true and faithful quality of the preached word, the saltiness, if you like, of the apostle's message would be the means to initiate the widespread, the worldwide spread, the coming of faith through the preaching of the word.

As it did indeed, for example, on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 souls were added to the church. And Luke tells us on that occasion, speaking of it in Acts chapter two and verse 47, that those thus saved, those 3,000 thus saved themselves had a positive influence on the general community. So let's just note that. The apostles were the salt of the earth and their testimony brought in those 3,000 that were saved that day. But thereafter, that 3,000, they in turn had a positive influence on the general community. Having says Luke, favour with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. And I think there's another strand here as well. The spiritual significance of salt has something to contribute to our lesson here today.

As salt is spoken of in scripture, it would take the disciples, the understanding of the disciples, back to the way in which salt was used in the Jewish religious practices. It would take the disciples back to the Old Testament use of salt in the tabernacle and in the temple sacrifices. In Leviticus chapter 2 and verse 13, a very significant, a very important verse is there recorded in this context.

Moses was told by God, listen to these words, every oblation, every act of worship, every sacrifice that you make, 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. And this tells us that salt had to be added to every meat sacrifice. And the reason for adding the salt was to draw attention to the covenant of thy God.

Every sacrifice that was made in those Old Testament days, whether it was in the tabernacle in the wilderness or whether it was on the altar in Solomon's temple, every sacrifice spoke of the substitutionary death of Christ. We've thought about that with the young people's talks a number of, well, I guess it might even be years ago now, that how all of the temple furniture and the altar and the sacrifices and the Ark of the Covenant, all of these things pointed to Christ, so that the sacrifices being made spoke to these Old Testament believers of the substitutionary death of Christ. Every sacrifice spoke of God's grace. It spoke of divine mercy. It spoke of forgiveness of sin. What did it speak of? The covenant of thy God.

It provided an opportunity for the believing Israelite to remember God's faithfulness and thank the Lord for the deliverance that he had provided and the salvation that was promised by the death of the Redeemer. Believing Jews, believing children of Israel, didn't imagine that their salvation was because of the dead animal that they were sacrificing. They saw by faith that that pointed to the Messiah yet to come.

And the salt offering, added to every meat offering was a requirement. That salt offering didn't alter the efficacy of the offering when it was made in faith with an eye to Christ. but it did something else. It reminded the person who was offering, the offerer, if you like, it reminded the offerer that his sacrifice was being made in line with and according to the enduring covenant of God. so that the salt offering was a perpetual reminder of the grace of God in accepting sinners upon the merits of his sacrificed son. It was as if the Old Testament Jew was saying, as he made his salt offering with his sacrifice, I know what this means.

I understand what this sacrifice signifies. I know that it speaks about the covenant of God. So that salt symbolised the enduring nature of the covenant of grace and the continuing power and efficacy of Christ's sacrifice First to obtain and secure redemption and reconciliation and acceptance for the sinner with God. The blood of the sacrifice was accepted by God as a symbol of the efficacious but yet to come cleansing blood of Christ. And the salt was a statement by the offerer that he understood the blood offering to be an integral part of God's everlasting covenant of grace and peace. The salt said, I believe God has promised to accept this blood in lieu of my sins.

How does that relate to the Lord's words to his disciples? Well, the saltiness of the disciples was their gospel ministry, their message of salvation by the death and shed blood of Christ. The Old Testament Jews added salt to their sacrifice to attest their faith in Christ's work. And the apostles preached the gospel as a testimony of faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The salt of the sacrifice bore witness to the faith of the offerer that God was faithful to save according to the terms of his covenant being fulfilled.

And the gospel testimony and the gospel witness of the apostles, first of all in their preaching, and thereafter, every believer who believes and receives God's grace in the gospel, they too add their salt by their faith to the offering made by Christ. so that by our profession of faith, we declare as the disciples and the apostles declared in their gospel ministry, as the Old Testament Israelite declared in his offering of salt, that we believe in the efficacy of Christ's blood and the perpetual acceptance of our souls and persons by God on the basis of our Saviour's sacrifice. The possibility, therefore, of salt losing its savour is spoken by the Lord to show the uselessness of a misplaced testimony. What does that mean? Well, the Lord says, if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

If the apostle's message ceased to be faithful to the gospel of God, the gospel of God's grace in Christ, it would be worthless and good for nothing. It would neither preserve a sinner from the corruption of sin, nor edify the believer with nourishing meat. If any other gospel be preached, says Paul, let it be an anathema. It's useless. It's worse than useless. It's a message of condemnation. It's not a message of blessing.

In addition, we might add, if your profession of faith and my profession of faith, we're not the apostles, but if our profession of faith is in anything other than the efficacy of Christ's blood to cleanse from all sin and the benefits of his redemption in making us wholly righteous in God's sight, it would, again, be worthless and good for nothing. And if the message that any church preaches from its pulpit falls short of the free grace ministry of God's covenant purpose of grace and mercy, and Christ's full and free salvation by the complete satisfaction for sins of his people, it will be worthless and good for nothing. There are thousands and tens of thousands of churches who claim to preach the gospel, but I fear that many churches today have a ministry that is worthless and good for nothing. Many preachers speak from the Bible. They employ scriptural language. They talk about the cross and the resurrection.

They set forth their message, but their testimony and their gospel has no salt in it. The sacrifice of which they speak is not salted with salt. Such ministries have lost their savour. They don't preach a full gospel, a distinguishing, efficacious and complete gospel.

And consequently it is worthless for men's souls and it must be thrown out under the feet of men. It is of use neither for the mission field of this world or the dung heap of degenerate and corrupt souls. We are the salt of the earth. May our profession be faithful to the gospel of God's grace. May our ministry be loyal to Christ's gospel, clear and truthful, that men and women might hear the truth and we might be useful to their souls as promoters of the true faith and heart holiness. Amen. Amen.