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The
Salt Of The Earth
We haven’t
gotten an experience yet, but we’re getting close!
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled. All right,
what’s after that? Realize your condition’s not good,
mourn over it, take a meek position before God, then
you’ve got to let God see you’re hungering after
it---really want it! God has to see within your heart a
desire that you really want it---that you would rather
have it than anything in the world. You didn’t know what
it was, but you found out the hunger of your soul was for
Jesus, amen, and you want Him so bad. We begin to hunger
and thirst after it, we will be filled.
I want to repeat that God
doesn’t want any power fed people. He wants those that
are hungry. What are you talking about? Power feed or
force feed---They raise chickens “over night” now.
They just go every so many minutes and open their mouth
and get a syringe and shoot them full of feed. Those
chickens just grow right up. God doesn’t want that kind
of stuff. He wants people that want Him---He wants people
that hunger after Him, and thirst after Him.
I’m just a firm
believer, that, up to right now, everybody’s got Jesus,
that want Him. Yes, I believe that. I believe if there are
any here that want Him, and haven’t got Him yet, they
would be getting Him right now. Those of you who are
hungering and thirsting after righteousness shall be
filled. You know, that’s a positive statement, but
it’s yet, out ahead. “Shall be filled.” Let’s go a
little farther.
So we see, the next thing
after we become meek, is to hunger for Him. What’s the
next thing? Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
obtain mercy. Forgive everybody! This salvation takes a
little while. When you get the old time kind. While you
are down there mourning over your poor spiritual
condition, you have taken a meek position before God, you
are hungering and you tell God how bad you want this
salvation, then, be merciful. Forgive everybody, because
if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will
your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses. Can’t
have it. Jesus said, when you come to the altar, bring
your gifts and remember, your brother, if he has aught
against you---it won’t do any good to try to offer your
gifts; be reconciled to your brother, go show mercy, then
come back. Yes…we have to keep that spirit. Anybody that
really gets this thing, is going to keep it, because it is
too big a job to get it. And it’s harder to get it the
second time, than it was the first time. Well, God help
us! Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
What’s the next step?
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Well, thank God, we’re just about getting ushered in
where we can see God and talk to Him now, and get this
thing worked out. People think they can just run up and
knock on God’s door and see Him anytime. No, you have to
go by some certain offices here. Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God; or the original says, they
shall possess God. That “see God”, there, is a Hebrew
term. You can read it several places in the Scripture. The
16th Psalm, the 10th verse, says, Thou shalt not suffer
thy Holy One to see corruption, or the original says: to
possess corruption. Jesus said, “Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom,” or the Hebrew says:
he cannot possess the kingdom. So blessed are the pure in
heart for they shall see God, or the Hebrew says, possess
God--- right in the very heart. Well, we’re getting
there!
Next, blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Well, we finally got a man born of God! He is a child of
God now! How did he get it? Realizing his spiritual
condition wasn’t good, mourned over it, took a meek
position before God, hungered and thirsted, stood there
and showed mercy to everybody---said Lord, I’ll forgive
everybody. If I’ve wronged anybody, I will restore it
four-fold. Next thing, my friend, plead to God for heart
purity---next thing, become a peacemaker. Make your peace
with God---and the children of God are peace-makers! I
know a lot of people call this and that the children of
God, but Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers, they
shall be called the children of God. If everybody were a
peacemaker, that declared to be, there wouldn’t be as
much trouble as there is. He told us to make peace, as
much as lieth within us---live in a peaceful way with all
men, and endeavor to make peace as we go about. The very
work of God upon hearts will cause us to do it.
God is a God of peace.
When we find peace and make peace, we are the children of
God. Romans the 5th chapter and verse 1 says:
“Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thank God for it.
When the angel came to bear the good tidings of great
joy…that Christ was going to be born; after he preached
the message, the heavenly choir struck up the invitation
hymn and said “Peace on earth, good will to men.” When
we get straightened out with God, we will get straightened
out with our fellow men. It’s just natural. That’s the
way the Spirit of God works. We get straightened out with
God, we will get straightened out with our fellowmen, and
when people begin to get “on the outs” with their
fellow men, just mark it down, they’re “on the outs”
with God, because we can’t be clear with God and be
“out” with our fellowmen.
Down through the rest
will tell us what happened. Blessed are the peacemakers,
they will be called the children of God. Blessed are they
that are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you---here’s what will happen to you if you
really get this experience---blessed are you when men
shall revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of
evil against you, falsely, for my name’s sake, rejoice
and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.
So persecuted they the prophets, which were before you.
You are the salt of the earth---I’m still dealing with
the Laodicean letter---you are the salt of the earth. He
said to gather the good in the vessels, and cast the bad
out. What gets cast out? If salt has lost its savor, it is
fit for nothing but to be cast out. We are not casting
away the man that does not know God. No, God bless your
hearts, no, no, no! Jesus is saying come---come! Who is
this that gets cast out? They’re people who have been
the salt of the earth and “played around” and lost
their savor. I’m preaching about the Laodiceans. We
haven’t got to the letter yet, but that’s what I’m
preaching about. That’s who is fit to get cast out.
Brother, they really squall, when you take the Word of God
and put them in their place, but that is what Jesus said
to do. Fit for nothing, but to be trodden under the foot
of man. What are you talking about?
A man that has once known
God, and turned from Him, is a miss-fit on any corner. The
world doesn’t want him; Christ cannot use him; he’s
just what the Laodicean letter said, wretched and
miserable. Nobody’s any more miserable than this people
that has got caught in this compromise, this apostasy;
they’re too good to go out in the world and find any
pleasure, yet they’re not good enough to find pleasure
in the things of God. They’re just in between the thing.
Miserable state; they’re the salt that has lost its
savor---“good for nothing,” but to be cast out.
Jesus said, ye are the
salt of the earth---who? The people of God. Somebody said,
how do you know? He said, you are the salt of the earth,
then, you are the light of the world; and you’ll never
be the light of the world until you’re the salt of the
earth. Is there a difference? Yes. Why didn’t He say,
you are the light of the earth and the salt of the world?
What’s He talking about? We’ve got to have enough God
in our lives that without ever speaking a word---He showed
us there in the letter---that society was corrupting away.
We salt things to keep them from corrupting. Why do you
think corruption is taking our nation? Not enough salt!
Too much salt that has lost its savor. It’s no good! It
won’t help society because, that which professes to be
the church, has lost its salt (savor). The corruption of
the world is coming right into the church environment. If
we will the salt, there will be no corruption, because we
can salt her down. If we will be the salt of the earth, it
will be easy to be the light of the world.
What are we talking
about? Get this real experience that keeps us---salt will
keep us, it will preserve us. If we get this Holy Ghost
salt that we’re talking about, it will keep us sweet.
When the reverses come against us on the job, an it looks
like corruption will take every thing around us, and the
explosion would take everyone there, it won’t take us,
while we’re salted down. Just walk around like that a
few days---keep our mouth shut, and after we’ve salted
the thing down real good, then, they’ll come and ask us,
“What’s different about you?” That’s the time to
be the light. But we have too many trying to be the light
that’s never been the salt. Isn’t that right? Let
people observe, that you really have something, and then
they will ask you about it. Out in the west, where the
highways are open and somebody thinks they’re driving
along pretty good at 95 miles an hour---you, just “slip
on by” them. You know what happens---you get off at a
filling station, they’ll drive up---“What in the world
have you got under that hood?” The same thing is true in
Christianity. Be the salt of the earth. What am I talking
about? You don’t have to talk, if you really have Christ
in your heart, it will be as hard for the devil to work
sin around you, as it was when Christ walked in the midst.
I know what I’m talking about. I have walked in barber
shops---I’ve walked in places and never said a
word---never had an attitude to throw cold water on what
was going on, but they could not get any fun our of what
they were doing. Why? I didn’t go to condemn them.
Christ did not come to condemn the world, but the world
got condemned, anyway. He didn’t come to condemn it, but
the very spirit He manifested condemned it. We don’t
want to condemn people when we preach, but the Word of God
and the Spirit of God will condemn sin on any corner. It
will never condone it. The Holy Ghost shining through our
lives will salt the thing down.
May we will see the days
again, when old time conviction on men will cause them to
quit sinning before they ever get saved. How’s that?
They’ll have salt on them, and it will begin to salt the
corruption before they ever get saved.
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