49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (Mark 9:49-50, ESV)
Father, these are peculiar verses, and so we want to bring them before you. We ask that you would bring insight and revelation and wisdom. Lord, these are important verses for us to understand and to live out.
So, Lord, we pray that you would make it simple and clear today what these verses mean. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Last December, I was struggling to come up with a sermon. It was three in the morning, and then God gave me Matthew 5:13.
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. (Matthew 5:13, ESV)
And the verses that come right after that are about being the light of the world. And in that sermon, December, I focus mostly on shining and having impact. And that’s when the Lord started stirring my heart. And that’s when I started applying for all these jobs one by one.
The Lord, he is addressing all the desires of my heart. So I, you know, at one point, I was applying for a job with a church of a thousand people, all Caucasian. And I wondered, could I do this? I think I can do this.
And then I visited David in Georgia, all Caucasian, about a thousand. And as I was there, very clearly, I knew I can’t do this. This is not for me.
And then last Sunday, I even threw out. Yeah, it would be nice to have a church of 100. Maybe two weeks ago, I said that I went to Bridgeway, about 100. It’s not that either. The answer is not in the number. There’s something else that the Lord is wanting to teach me, and so I want to come back.
And it’s neat when the Lord, he brings back a message from seven, eight months ago and gives more insight of what it means. It says we need to be salted with fire.
Did you know that in the Old Testament there were sin offerings? In Ezekiel 43:18-27, sin offerings of a bull. And before the offering was given, it was sprinkled with salt. Did you know in Leviticus 2:13 there were also grain offerings? And before the grain offerings were given, it was sprinkled with salt?
And so I’ve been asking, what is this salt? And then the answer is in 1 Peter 1:6.
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:6-9, ESV)
There is a trial, and I believe this is the salted. This is the salt with fire that is talked about in the gospel of Mark, Mark 9. It is this trial that we go through, and so I’m not sure what you’re facing.
Are you facing a trial today? Are you facing resistance? Are you facing difficulty? Are you facing confusion, frustration? If that is you today, then this message is for you.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:18-21, ESV)
So there’s a suffering that we go through in life, and it’s just completely our fault and we deserve it. If you sin and you fall into sin and there is a consequence of that sin, you will endure a season of suffering, perhaps, and this is all on us.
But there’s a different kind of suffering when you’re doing good and for the sake of Christ. You hold on and you endure and you respond the right way instead of being triggered, instead of being angry and frustrated. If you respond the right way, you are suffering according to Christ’s suffering, and you’re following in his example.
1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. (1 Peter 4:1-3, ESV)
Did you catch that verse? Verse one, that whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. I don’t think this means that you’ll ever come to a place where you’ll be sinless, but it unpacks it further in the second verse.
When you suffer for doing good and you suffer in your flesh, there’s a transformation that happens that you no longer live for yourself. And you learn at that point forward to deny yourself. And that is what it means to cease from sin.
Like the Gentiles, they just have certain passions, and they just do it. And even as a Christian, we have certain desires. Even as a pastor, I have certain desires. And if I just do it, then I am no different than the Gentiles who have certain passions, some desires. And you just live out those passions and desires.
But that is sinful, and we need to stop living out of our desires, out of our passions, out of what we think is right. Whatever we want to do, even in a church context, we can live according to these passions and desires.
And the Lord says, in order to stop living this way and to start living for the will of God, you need to go through some suffering in the flesh. And that’s why it says in Luke 9:23, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.
It’s the hardest thing in a Christian to do, to deny yourself. It’s so instinctive, it’s so natural. And sometimes the desires line up with things we find in Scripture. It just seems good to want to do this. And the Lord says, the first step of discipleship is to deny yourself. Stop living for your passion. Stop thinking you know how to do life, how to do church.
And now surrender and allow the suffering of the flesh to complete its work, so that from that point forward, finally, you will begin to live according to the will of God instead of your own will.
7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:7-11, ESV)
So in light of the coming of the Lord Jesus and time running out, he says to, for the sake of your prayers, keep on loving one another.
And there’s just different ways that we suffer in the flesh. When you have to do life with somebody who just drives you crazy, it is a little bit of a sudden suffering of your flesh.
It could be in your family, it could be in your church community. There’s someone that it just, you just don’t mesh. And it just, there’s a, it’s like oil and vinegar. It’s like if you had it your way, you would just separate.
But the Lord says, no, you must go through this type of suffering in your flesh.
That person that annoys you to no end, that just, you don’t click with. You need to just love that person and serve that person and, in so doing, die to yourself and die to your flesh.
This is all training from the Lord so that you can be someone that the Lord can use, a worker for the harvest field. And then we get to the culmination of Peter’s point in his letter.
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. (1 Peter 4:12-14, ESV)
Salted with fire. Fiery trial. I think it’s the same thing. It’s not strange when a trial comes upon a believer. It’s how we grow.
It is how Christ suffered in his flesh when people mocked him, when people insulted him, when people persecuted him, when they misunderstood him, when his own family and friends thought he was just out of line. And like, who is he here? Why is he saying that he’s the messiah, the son of God? Everybody mocking, persecuting, dismissing, scorning his name. It’s all part of the Christian journey.
And so when you are going a path that maybe even diverges from mainstream Christianity and how churches do things, won’t we also receive the same insults that Christ received?
He was outside of the religious system. All the Pharisees, all the scribes, everyone who’s a professional clergy of Jesus’ day looked at him and said, what are you doing? Who are you? You think you’re a teacher? You’re uneducated. You’re a carpenter. You do church like 50, 10, 15,000 feeding them. And you don’t go back there. You don’t keep growing it. What are you doing? You’re wasting your talent. Going to one person, that’s a waste.
And so some in the body of Christ who really want to follow Jesus, I want to say you will receive this type of insult from other christians. It’s the same thing that Christ endured in his flesh.
15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:15-17, ESV)
There’s a suffering that is a consequence of sin that we should avoid at all costs. But there’s a different kind of suffering as a Christian, and it comes from the other side, the household of God, who is under judgment. They are judging the true Christ follower, who are not doing it according to the mainstream.
And the response for the Christian is in verse 19.
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4:19, ESV)
The best we can do is when people mock us, insult us, say all kinds of things against us. The best we can do is entrust ourselves to God and keep doing good. Keep blessing those who persecute us. Keep praying for those who insult us. Please keep doing what is right in the Lord’s eyes. While they keep heaping these insults, we overcome evil with good.
1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:1-5, ESV)
There are some leaders in the body of Christ who do not follow these verses. And instead of being humble under the shepherding of our good shepherd, they think they are the top dog, and they lord it over people. They are harsh. They are stubborn. They are difficult to be around. And I bet that person had a lot of trials.
But instead of allowing the salt to seep in and to learn the lesson and to be transformed through the trial, they just opposed the trial. They didn’t submit under what the Lord was doing. Instead, they said, oh, that’s persecution. Oh, that’s not for me. Oh, that doesn’t apply to me. And they missed this transformation of becoming this type of an under shepherd who has this kind of a character.
All of us will be salted with fire, and some of us, unfortunately, will not receive the salt that comes with the fire.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7, ESV)
If you have a desire to glorify yourself, then you will not understand what it means for the Lord to exalt somebody. You and I must humble ourselves all the time and not fight for our name to be glorified and let the Lord do it. It takes much longer. It’s a much more difficult process.
It is a process of being salted. And so, if you think that in the Old Testament these sacrifices were salted with fire, it’s like, so strange. Like, does the Lord care? Does he not like bland food? Like, why do you have to salt the sacrifice before the Lord accepts it?
If we, as a new covenant believer in the New Testament, if we are the sacrifice, if we are the living sacrifice, then also we too must be salted before we’re acceptable to the Lord, before we’re usable in his sight, before we will be welcomed into the new kingdom and hear the words, well done.
It is the same principle. You and I must be salted properly in order for the Lord to receive us. How do we get salted? It is through fire, through trials.
So we just humble ourselves through the trial, and we let the Lord, in his time, in his way, to exalt us.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9, ESV)
We have an adversary, and we need to resist him. We need to stand firm.
And this reminds me of if you’re training your body, you need to go through resistance. Like, if you don’t do any resistance, your body will stay your body. And in fact, over the years, your body will degrade.
The muscle mass that you had in your twenties and thirties, by the time you hit your fifties, you’re losing muscle by the day. How do we fight against this? You must resist and have resistance training.
And so you grow muscles. Like this is no resistance, but you add five pounds.
You do the same motion, that resistance builds muscle. You do a plank, and you collapse after 5 seconds. There’s no core muscle. But if you can endure and resist the temptation to give up and you increase to 1 minute, to two minutes, you’re building a muscle. It’s through resistance training.
The same if you want to grow in your faith. A fiery trial comes. Satan is there. He’s telling you to give up. He’s telling you to just react. Just do what you think you should do in the trial instead of just humbling yourself, instead of just resisting.
That’s what it says in 1 Peter 5. We should resist the devil. That means he’s opposing you and you just push back. You don’t let him move you. He wants to push you down, he wants to push you over, he wants you to let go of your faith through the fiery trial.
So what do you do? You have the same opposing force like the resistance bands, like it has a certain amount of tension. You just hold firm. And so Satan is pushing you with a certain amount of force.
You push back with an equal amount of force. That is what it means to resist. You just stand your ground.
And then he says it again, not only do you oppose Satan, not and just stand, then he says it again, firm in your faith, just stand your ground. Satan’s going to want to topple you, want to weaken you, want to stumble you, want you to curse the name of God, wants you to depend on yourself.
All of this Satan is doing when he’s coming to you. He’s a lion wanting to devour you. What do we do? We resist him with equal force and then we stand our ground.
It’s reminiscent of Ephesians 6:11-13.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:11-13, ESV)
So what does it mean after you resist Satan, you oppose him. You withstand. Now what does it mean to stand?
We might read Ephesians 6 and say it’s up to me and my righteousness and my faithfulness to stand firm, and I can do it by myself. We may read it that way. But if you look at Isaiah 59:15, let me read that.
15 Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. 17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. 18 According to their deeds, so will he repay, wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies; to the coastlands he will render repayment. 19 So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives. 20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 59:15-20, ESV)
And this is probably one of the most significant things that the Lord has shown me in recent years, starting, I think, maybe last year sometime.
The Lord Jesus is the one who puts on the armor, and he is the one who shields and protects us. He is the one who fights for us. We just need to stand firm in Christ, hide behind Christ, take your refuge in Christ. That is how we have victory over the devil.
And then after you’ve endured, you will level up, as it says in 1 Peter 5:10.
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:10-11, ESV)
The trial will come, the fire will come, the salt, the seasoning of the salt, the opportunity comes, and you can receive it and be transformed by it. And then these verses apply. Then God will restore you. God will establish you. God will exalt you. Or you can say, I don’t want to go through it, just physical training.
I don’t like it. Spiritual training, I don’t like it either. That’s why it’s good to be fit. It’s good to overcome things in our body, because that trains you spiritually not to give up easily.
But if your body and your body just have learned to give up easily, and you just let yourself go, then the tempter comes. He knows you’re weak. He knows you’re mentally, physically weak, and likely even spiritually weak. He will come in your moment of weakness, and you will fall. And the opportunity for salting with fire was there.
And you said, I don’t need the salt. And you missed an opportunity to grow in your faith and to show what this principle looks like.
We’ll look at King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 as we close. He was a king of Judah, and there was a time of a fiery trial that came upon Jehoshaphat’s life. You can read about it in this chapter, 2 Chronicles 20. The Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Maonites were all forming an alliance against the king of Judah and Judah.
And the king, they were afraid, obviously, because they can’t win against all of these pagan nations forming an alliance to come against them. And so the greatness of King Jehoshaphat is, he calls a time of prayer and fasting.
And this is what he says in his prayer, verse twelve:
12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12, ESV)
If you’re in a trial, you really don’t know what to do. You really don’t know what to do. It’s a situation that’s way above your pay grade. You and I, we really don’t know what to do.
When the trial comes, it’s like you’re in this position of a king facing a horde army of enemies, just powerless. We can’t beat them in our flesh.
And he exercises his faith. He says, if I look at my circumstances, I’m going to start acting out of my flesh. I’m not going to do that. My eyes are on you. My eyes are on you. That’s what faith is.
You don’t look at the circumstances. If we look at our circumstances, we’ll be tempted, like I have been for twelve years as a pastor, to just move in my flesh. I’ve been tempted many times. Just move in your flesh. Just do what you think is right. But I keep coming back to the Lord’s lesson through the trial. Eyes on Jesus. Eyes on Jesus. Eyes on Jesus. That’s what it means to stand firm into faith.
And then it says, the spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziel, a Levite. And sometimes you’re the one praying, but you don’t know what to do. But the strategy comes from somebody else. And so I’m waiting on somebody. Somebody. If there’s something for us to do. I’m waiting for Jehaziel to stand up and say, give me strategy. What are we doing? What should we do in Bellflower for the Lord? I’m asking for someone to stand up and say, the Lord spoke to me. And he says, this is what you do. And we all pray and discern and say, oh, that is the spirit of the Lord speaking.
Let’s follow that. And that happened. And he spoke this Levite.
15 And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God‘s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:15-17, ESV)
When the trial hits, there’s a temptation to be afraid. There’s a temptation to be dismayed. There’s a temptation to be annoyed. There’s a temptation to be triggered. All of that just excites the flesh. And then out of your flesh, you start making poor decision after decision after decision.
It happens in individuals. It even happens in churches. But he’s basically saying what we’ve been reading in 1 Peter all this time. Just stand firm. Let the Lord fight for you.
And then we read in verse 18.
18 Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. 20 And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” 21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 20:18-21, ESV)
And now I think here are some practical things that we can do. When the fiery trial comes, you will be tempted to just topple, to just fall over, to be triggered, to be afraid, to be dismayed, to be annoyed. All of these things, it’s just agitating our flesh. And then you just start living out of the flesh.
Or you respond. In faith, you withstand the enemy by standing firm in Jesus Christ, and you let Jesus fight for you. And then they surrendered. That’s what it means to worship. They bowed low. They were prostrate before the Lord. You surrender in the midst of the trial.
Not only do you surrender, you sing, you praise the Lord. Not only do you praise the Lord, you give thanks and you say, you give thanks to the Lord, and you praise for his steadfast love endures forever.
This is what it means to be salted with fire, to receive the salt and to be leveled up as the Lord exalts you, as you humble yourself, as you receive the training through the trial. And then the Lord comes to restore you, to establish you, and to raise you up.
So I’m not sure what you’re facing in your life, a personal trial. Difficulty, frustration, uncertainty. It’s an opportunity to level up in our faith, to trust the Lord. Salt is there in the trial. You’re being salted. You’re being seasoned by the Lord so that when he sees you, he doesn’t spit you out of his mouth because you’re blind.
Land, lukewarm, but you’ve been prepared by the God-given trials that he sends so you can be humbler, so you can be more dependent, so you can trust in the Lord and not fight your own battles out of the flesh, but to hide behind the Lord Jesus and let him fight for you.
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, we submit under all the fiery trials of life. Forgive us for all the times when we acted out of our flesh, in response, when we got triggered, when we got annoyed, when we made poor decisions, when we separate ourselves from the situation instead of being trained. There’s so many wrong things that we’ve done.
During the trials that you sent, we missed out on an opportunity to be seasoned with salt so that we can be a sacrifice that is pleasing in your sight, so that we can be trained up and raised up as a worker for the harvest field.
Father, if we are in a trial or the next time we’re in a trial, we’re going to follow what King Jehoshaphat did. He prayed, he fasted, he humbled himself. He prostrated himself, he worshiped the Lord, and he sang, he praised, and he gave thanks.
Lord, if we’re in a trial right now, you’re giving us practical steps of what you expect of us so that we can receive the salt, be seasoned properly, and to be changed as a result. We rely on you, Lord, and you alone to exalt us.
In the meantime, we humble ourselves. We praise your name and we give you thanks. We thank you for your body that was broken for us and your bloodshed. We pray that you minister to us. Season us during this time. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
