Grace Church - Climbing Companions Pt 4

Grace Church 

Sunday June 29, 2014, 2nd service

Pastor Robb Yandian

Salt and Light
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Matthew 5:13-16 (ESV)
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13. "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

14. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

15. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

16. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

Salt and Light
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The analogies here are not quite understood because times have changed.  Salt is not really valuable to us anymore.  We use salt for flavoring. In those days it was used for a lot more.  When they heard salt, they heard value.  Value is determined by desire and value (supply and demand).  

Salt was used to preserve food, to add flavor, to change the environment that it is in.  

All of these are things that we should be doing as Christians.  

But what happens when salt looses the saltiness (as Christians not doing anything) what happens.  It is good for nothing.  

Salt does not strive to be salt, it just is. So is the other part, light.  

Shut off every source of light and it is dark, but one light source penetrated the darkness.  We are to be a light source to the people around us.  We are not to make our light shine, it is in us.  We are to let it shine.  

Message Version

13“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

14-16“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

The Brighter Light

The Brighter Light
Grace Fellowship
Bob Yandian
6/3/2009

Proverbs 4:18-19 KJVR
(18) But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
(19) The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Verse 18. Every single day of our life, it should get brighter. Unlike real daytime that starts to get darker at the end of the day, our life is to be like the dawn light that gets brighter and brighter unto perfection.

Verse 19. Darkness is the way of the wicked.

Our lives are often referred to as light in the Bible.
Psalms 113:3 KJVR
(3) From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised.

This is your whole life.

The dawn is to be like your spiritual birth:
Psalms 110:3 KJVR
(3) Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

Middle age:
Matthew 20:12 KJVR
(12) Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

Seasoned Christians get equal to what the new Christians get. They do not like it. It reflects how many seasoned Christians think, the ones that have gotten to middle age so to speak.

Back to verse 18 of Proverbs 4. A light gets brighter every day. Your natural body gets older and darker each day. Your spiritual life is what is referred to here. Now what does the perfect day mean? Two views:

1. Perfect day is rapture of Church
   These people never knew what the church was. How could that be?
   
2. The day you meet Jesus.
   This is to be the perfect day.
   

When growth stops, decay will start. You can not shift in to neutral and coast. If you coast, you will eventually stop moving. You need to keep growing. As you keep growing, the brighter the light will be. You can never say you are maxed out.

Proverbs 6:20-23 KJVR
(20) My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
(21) Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
(22) When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
(23) For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

Tie your self to the Word. It is the light that you will need to get to the brighter light.

Unless otherwise noted, all scriptures are King James version. The notes are based on what I heard. They may or may not reflect what the speaker said.

Walking In the Light

Walking in the light
Bob Yandian
Jan 9, 2008

Light represents walking in righteousness but it represents walking in what we know. God does not hold us accountable for what we do not know but what we do know. God wants us to constantly expanding what we know and decreasing what we do not. When first born again the questions started. Now those questions seem silly but they were difficult at the time. Sometimes we ask the question and may not get the answer right away. God does not have to answer right away. If He did we could get to be like spoiled brats that get what they want all the time.

Job 34:31 KJV
(31) Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:

The purpose of chastisement is so that we will not sin anymore. How did Job choose to sin no more?

Job 34:32 KJV
(32) That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.

Teach me what I do not understand so that I will not offend you anymore.

Discipline is part of the Christian life. It is not taking your house or business away as some might think. Nor is it a tornado or some disaster. God is one who is to blessing. Chastening is done through the word. If you are in this, God will use people speaking the word to you from all sides. It will get to be sometimes that you want to tell God to shut up.

Hebrews 12:6-7 KJV
(6) For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
(7) If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

This is not sinners. Those he love would be Christians. It is part of the Christian life. Job brought out the goal that we should all have. He did not want to sin (offend God).

1 John 2:1 KJV
(1) My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

God's desire is not for us to sin. As we get older we tend to move the sins internal to ourselves. It is in the heart. But it is still sin.

You have to admit that you sin. Once you do God most likely have to chastise you. A parent will most likely not punish a child who admits to their sins right away. It is like that with God. Some may need to be punished though.

The next step is to tell God, like Job did, that you do not want to sin. And to do that, God will have to teach you. That can often be difficult as God has to turn the light on you to show you the areas that you might not want to change. You need to judge yourself. God can reveal things to us when we pray. He can also speak by you reading the Word and getting it inside you so that you can see where areas are that need to be cleaned up.

1 John 1:7 KJV
(7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

The light is what you know. The darkness is what you do not know. God does not ask you to walk in what you do not know but what you do know. He wants that light to increase however. This verse shows that you can sin and still walk with God. You have to not know that it is a sin however. God is always in the light. God forgives us for that unknown sin.

1 John 1:9 KJV
(9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You can only confess a sin that you know is a sin. If you do not know it you can not confess it. You must however confess that sin or you no longer walk in the light. And if you sin an unknown sin at this time it is like sinning a known one, at least till you confess that known one. At that point all unknown sins get cleaned.

Ephesians 5:13-15 KJV
(13) But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
(14) Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
(15) See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

The light here is the knowledge of God's Word.

Hebrews 4:12 KJV
(12) For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Word of God needs to get inside of us. It needs to discern or judge us. Everything that we do needs to be judged before we do it. The Word will tell us if what we do is pleasing to God or not. Are you willing for God to shine the light of the Holy Spirit and His Word into the crevices of your heart? Job wanted to so that he would not offend God. Are you willing to reveal yourself so that God can expose the sins?

Job 34:31-32 KJV
(31) Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
(32) That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.

Job has told God, the chastening worked. Chastening is not to hurt a child but to line a child up with the right way to do something. When you chasten a child there will often be a peace in a child. Eventually that child will rise up and not want to offend you. You do not want the child to fear you but they will not do something because they love you and do not want to you. We need to be like that to God.



Unless otherwise noted, all scriptures are King James version. The notes are based on what I heard. They may or may not reflect what the speaker said.