"Straight Talk About Your Faith | February 27, 2022

hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing and improve first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas today let's stand together church welcome to our guest and i campus viewers wonderful grace of jesus greater than all my sins how shall my tongue describe it where shall praise be in taking away my [Music] for the wonderful grace of jesus christ [Applause] [Music] i thank you for your dreams [Music] [Music] [Music] of jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] grace of jesus [Music] wonderful grace of jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i thank you for your grace [Applause] thank you for your grace [Music] i thank you for your grace together [Music] i thank you for your grace [Music] [Music] [Music] lord we thank you for your grace [Applause] praise the lord this morning for his great grace lord inhabit the praises of your people we worship you let our praise be your welcome let our [Music] are here songs you we're here we are here for you let your bread come from heaven fill our hearts with your life we are here for you that's why we come today we are here for you to you our hearts are open [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's your way [Music] we're here [Music] [Applause] [Music] fall down [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] let your fire fall down [Music] fall down is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's give him praise this morning christ our savior great worship church you may be seated well we welcome everyone to first baptist dallas today it's great to see each of you and we also welcome our guests joining us here in the room as well as on our eye campus and guests we have a very special gift for you today it's our pastor's new book entitled invincible conquering the mountains that separate you from the blessed life and guest as you came in this morning you received a welcome card and you'll find this card enclosed in that well in that worship guide and please take the time to fill this out and keep the card with you at the end of the service take it outside these main uh worship center doors and you'll find our welcome center right there our staff is waiting there for you to exchange your card for your gift today and answer any questions you might have regarding our church we look forward to meeting you if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can just place the card in one of those and we'll process the card and then we'll mail you a copy of your gift and if you're joining us on icampus just follow that link provided on your screen to receive your gift as well again welcome to each of you to worship here at first baptist dallas today lots of exciting events taking place in the life of our church lots of opportunities for ministry let's all take a look together now at the screen [Music] well good morning we are so thankful to be with you in worship today and we want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events on saturday march 12th we have a church-wide opportunity to gather and make a difference in our community through our local mission partners with serve dallas in just one day volunteers experience a little bit of what our local partners do every day serving is truly a privilege and as a church we counted an absolute honor to be able to serve our city have you ever wondered how you could develop spiritually as a family or how you can navigate your child's emotions join us for our parenting hot topic sessions on sunday march 20th with speaker david thomas david has over 20 years counseling kids and families on christian childhood development our first dallas women had an amazing weekend at heartstrong faith if you left the conference looking for community throughout the week connect through our bible study oh taste and see a sampling of the psalms for more information on everything happening at our church visit firstdallas.org events [Music] before we have our scripture reading i was thinking a moment ago as we are singing about god's grace that i know many of you are praying for god's mercy on ukraine a lot of us are wearing some blue and yellow this morning to show our our love and our solidarity with folks who are standing so strong 2 30 this morning i i woke up to a message from one of our dear friends who is a christian journalist in kiev he uh has been in our service several times and he is relating among other things as many there have how much they appreciate your prayer many of us feel handcuffed what can we do prayer and uh that's not a small thing and it's much appreciated by those and i know that ben is going to lead us in prayer in a little bit for ukraine and i know many of you have asked me about that because we have so many friends that have done work there i would have been there in a few weeks to do more media training but thank you for your prayers now let's read god's word together from matthew chapter 5 and we'll be reading verses 13 through 20 preparation for the pastor's message today reading from the new american standard bible and so we'll have those words on the screen here in the worship center and also for eye campus as well and as many are doing we stand to honor the reading of god's word here at first baptist as we read matthew chapter 5 beginning with verse 13 ending with verse 20. you are the salt of the earth but if the salt has become tasteless how can it be made salty again it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket but on the lampstand and it gives light to all who are in this house let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven do not think that i came to abolish the law or the prophets i did not come to abolish but to fulfill for truly i say to you until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever keeps and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven for i say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven and may god richly bless our reading of his word keep standing now we continue our worship time and our wonderful friend dr leo day is coming to lead us as we worship [Music] god [Music] deliver [Music] i found [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is is [Music] [Applause] [Music] i [Music] before your presence [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] go back [Music] is [Music] me [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you may be seated and good morning during this time of our service we continue our worship through giving and commitment and i'll remind you that you'll have the opportunity to leave your tithes and your offerings in the boxes as you exit our worship services this morning you can also give online at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but today even as we worship our lord and we celebrate the gift of our salvation through jesus christ our hearts are heavy for the people of ukraine as they fight for their lives and their freedom and resist the russian invasion even as we speak this morning we have ministry partners in the nation of ukraine ron harris of media alliance manny fernandez and world link ministries the pastor has been in contact with a missionary there even this morning he shared with us what's happening in the churches in ukraine he's planted many churches there and he told us that it's no surprise that ukraine is being attacked by the adversary ukraine has been one of the countries most open to the gospel of all the former soviet states many travel from other countries just to see what god is doing in the church in that nation and so we'll be partnering with these ministries in the days ahead to provide financial support and help to our brothers and sisters in christ in ukraine now many christians are wondering how they should view and respond to what's happening there in that nation so i'd encourage you to read our pastor's commentary you can find that on our pathway to victory website at ptv.org or to watch his interviews over the last couple of days which you can find on dr jefferson's social media pages but as our pastor has reminded us first and foremost we must pray for the people in ukraine and pray for all those who are being affected by this conflict and so this morning as thousands gather in our worship services and as potentially hundreds of thousands join us online let us join our voices in prayer together and entreat our heavenly father on behalf of those who are affected by this conflict i'll invite you now as you're able to kneel all over the worship center as we go to our lord in prayer together gracious heavenly father we know that we live in a fallen world a world that is rebelling against you a world that is corrupted by sin but we also know lord that you are the sovereign lord almighty you rule and reign over the nations you direct the course of human events and yet you know when every sparrow falls and so this morning lord we seek your face on behalf of the people of ukraine on behalf of all those affected by this conflict the innocent victims in this war on behalf of the families that are being torn apart on behalf of the children that are caught in the crossfire on behalf of the church our brothers and sisters in christ the pastors and the missionaries there on the ground we ask lord for your supernatural protection over them for we know that you are a shelter and a fortress for all who seek you and we ask that you would intervene in your power and might that you would contend against those who rebel against righteousness that you would drive back those who fight against you drive them back in despair and dismay lord we pray that you would bring an end to this conflict and this terrible loss of life and lord in all the tribulation and the trouble of this world we know that you remain in control we know that you are still on your throne and so we pray lord that you will be exalted and that your will be done we recognize that your thoughts are higher than our thoughts and your ways are higher than our ways and we pray that through this somehow the gospel message would be proclaimed throughout the world as we await the return of our savior jesus christ when he comes to establish his kingdom of peace and we pray this all in the saving name of jesus amen [Music] i am lord i'm the almighty god i am the one for whom nothing is too hard i am the shepherd and i am the door i am the good news to the bound and the poor i am i am [Music] am [Music] i am the righteous one and i am the lamb i am the ram in the bush for abraham i am the ultimate sacrifice for sin i am your redeemer [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am the resurrection [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am your future [Music] i am [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] today [Music] [Applause] i am [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] i am today i am i [Applause] [Music] am [Music] [Applause] is [Music] thank you so much dr leo day and first dallas choir and orchestra for your tremendous music today we want to welcome those of you who've just joined us in day one as well as the multitude of you watching on our first dallas high campus and on pathway to victory speaking of pathway to victory i'm excited to announce that tomorrow we are expanding the ministry of pathway to victory with the launch of a new television program as you know my daughter julia hosts a very popular already podcast and radio program called unapologetic geared toward young adults in our country helping them stand true to god's word and tomorrow that's expanding the television they launched that show on the total living network and of all the people she could have chosen for the premier episode she will be interviewing her father tomorrow so uh pray for that new outreach just one more way first baptist dallas is piercing the darkness with the light of god's word aren't you proud of our church and the way i'm proud of you the way you have a vision for reaching this nation and reaching this world when abraham lincoln was putting together his cabinet an advisor suggested a man to serve on the cabinet lincoln said absolutely not i don't like his face the adviser said well mr president he can't be responsible for his face and abraham lincoln said every man is responsible for his own face you know i think about that truth when i talk to some christians who look like they've been baptized in lemon juice you know the kind of christians i'm talking about they walk around with a sour expression on their face all the time now i'm not suggesting that every christian ought to go around singing zippity-doo-dah all the time i'm not suggesting we have to be giddy that's unrealistic uh we talked last time about happiness is a superficial emotion that depends upon happenings our circumstances but our lives ought to be characterized by joy joy is that calm assurance that no matter what is happening around us god is still in control and that knowledge may not make us laugh all the time but it causes us to smile you know somebody as well said that it's what happens on the inside of us that determines what happens on the outside of us it always shows up on the outside and so today we're going to talk about one of the keys to remaining joyful in spite of your circumstances and it's understanding your god-given purpose in life and today as we continue our series on the sermon on the mount we're going to look at some very familiar words about jesus that perhaps best describe of any passage in scripture what our real purpose in life is if you have your bibles turn to matthew chapter 5 beginning with verse 13 as we look at some straight talk from jesus about our faith matthew chapter five let me just read the passage to you before we delve into it jesus said you are the salt of the earth but if the salt has become tasteless how can it be made salty again it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket but on the lamp stand and it gives light to all those who are in the house let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven as we look at these familiar verses i want to point out three similarities between the two examples jesus is using about you or the salt of the world you are the light of the world notice first of all both are positive affirmations when jesus is describing christians in this world he doesn't use a negative he doesn't say you aren't drunkards you aren't adulterers you aren't murderers now hopefully that's true but that's not how he describes us frankly all three of those negative descriptions could be said of this wooden pulpit this pulpit has never had a sip of alcohol did you know it it has never had a lustful thought it's never been angry at anyone but that's not how you want to be described in negative terms jesus said you are salt you are light they are positive affirmation secondly both statements emphasize individual responsibility jesus puts you in the emphatic position you you you do you remember a few years ago in basketball arenas around the country it became popular when an opposing team drew a foul for the stands or the fans to stand up and start pointing and yelling you you you you well that's what jesus is doing you are salt you are light both of these emphasize individual responsibility and thirdly both illustrations are statements of fact jesus doesn't say you should be the salt of the earth or you ought to be the light of the world he said you are you're salt and light the question is what kind of salt and light are you are you salt that is effective or have you become tasteless in this world is your light bright or is it them and pointing people to jesus christ now let's look at each of these examples in more detail first of all the value of salt look at verse 13 you are the salt of the earth now to understand jesus illustration here you need to understand how his culture viewed salt the greeks thought that salt was divine it was so important the romans had a saying nothing is more helpful than salt and sun in fact it was so valuable that it was used as currency did you know the roman soldiers were paid many times not in money but in salt they received their wages in salt the latin word for salt is saul s-a-l we get our word salary from salt that's how valuable it was in the ancient world and salt was used for a variety of things it was used as a disinfectant a preservative it was used to enhance the flavor of food like we use it today it was used as a preservative it was very very valuable but i think jesus when he said we are to be salt we are salt he has two things in mind first of all we are to enhance thirst in people we are to enhance spiritual thirst in people today athletes working out in the hot sun practicing their coaches will give them salt tablets what's the purpose of a salt tablet it is to create thirst so that they will take in the proper amount of liquids they need to stay healthy and stay alive it was actually used that way in the ancient world as well not with humans but with animals they would give salt to the animals to make sure that they were properly hydrated to remain healthy and jesus is saying in the same way we ought to be involved in helping to create spiritual thirst in people so that they will take advantage of the water of life jesus christ in matthew 5 6 remember jesus said blessed are those who hunger and what thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied the fact is we live in a world that everybody is not necessarily thirsty for righteousness and one of the responsibilities god has for us is to help enhance create spiritual thirst in people how do we do that well one way we do it is through our conversation saying things that point people to god doing things that point people to god if you're out with your family on friday night at applebee's it would probably be inappropriate for you to stand on top of the table and preach a sermon from john 3 16. but one thing you can do is pray with your family before a meal again nobody's going to become a christian because they see you pray you're not doing it to display your own righteousness but it's a subtle way of reminding people that there is a god in heaven when people are concerned and worried you can create spiritual thirst many people are concerned right now about what is happening in ukraine and is this going to be the trigger for world war iii if you saw me on shannon brimshaw friday night i said that um putin's evil is no match for god's sovereignty that vladimir putin is no more than a piece of lint on the pages of history that god can flick away as soon as he wants to daniel 2 says it is god who elevates kings and destroys kings now again is anybody going to pray to accept christ because they heard those words no but it's reminding people god is in control amy this week had a an appointment and the person who was helping her said you know it's amazing that you got this appointment we've been booked up forever it's just amazing and amy said well you know i prayed about it and god answered the prayer and that opened up an avenue for a spiritual discussion we can all do that wherever we are sprinkle our speech with salt you've heard the old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink that's true but you can salt the oats and uh that's what we're supposed to be doing salting the oats with conversations about god when amy and i were in the ninth grade we had an english class class together at richardson west junior high school amy wasn't a christian yet but we had a teacher an english teacher who was a christian in fact she was a member of this church and as a public school teacher she wanted to use her classes an opportunity to share christ but do so without getting fired and so she would assign books that had a spiritual undertone to them for us to read and report on she would ask questions of the class of a spiritual nature but let the class respond questions like do you think it's possible to know what happens to you after you die the teacher knew i was a christian and that would be my cue to raise my hand and say oh yes mrs madison you can know and this is how well amy was seated next to me in that class and she'll tell you to this day she wasn't a christian yet but when i would answer those questions she would say who is this know-it-all jerk who think he has the answer to everything 50 years later she's still asking that question that's another sermon but it was that year that she became a christian and part of the catalyst for it was a public school teacher who used her position to salt the oats to create spiritual thirst that's what jesus is talking about here creating thirst another thing i think jesus had in mind here was the importance of salt in preserving food that was the major use of salt in jesus day in the days before refrigeration salt was used to preserve meat now listen to this salt could not prevent the decay of meat nothing could prevent it but salt could delay the decay of the meat it gave the meat a longer shelf life eventually the meat would rot and have to be thrown out but it slowed down the process of decay and in the same way jesus is saying you and i can never completely reverse the decay of sin in this world this world is spiraling downward but we can the rapid disintegration of our culture by being salt by pushing back against the premature destruction of our world an interesting passage about that is found in second thessalonians two verses six and seven paul is describing the last seven years of earth's history when the antichrist the man of lawlessness reigns and look at what he says in verse six and you know what restrains him that is the antichrist now so that in his time he will be revealed for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he who now restrains that is restrains the antichrist restrains evil will do so until he is taken out of the way who is it right now that is restraining evil in the world he is the holy spirit of god and he is going to continue to restrain and push back and be that preservative in this world until he is taken away when will he be taken away at the rapture of the church when he is taken away through the lives of the individual christians that he indwells that's what's going to make the tribulation unlike any other period in human history for the first time the world will witness what it's like to have all believers removed and the world will descend very quickly into immorality and godlessness that will bring about the second coming of jesus christ the point is you and i as christians and dwell with the holy spirit of god we are the ones who are restraining evil in the world that is our job why does god want to restrain evil it's very clear so that more people have an opportunity to accept christ before the end comes now i'm not just making that up that's exactly what the bible says the bible says the lord's not slow about his promise in coming but he's patient for you not willing for any should perish but all should come to repentance now i know what some of you are thinking you're thinking robert have you lost your mind do you really believe we can slow down the end of the world and the tribulation and the end of christ don't you believe in the sovereignty of god don't you believe god's written an indelible link on his calendar the day of the world's destruction don't you believe that yes i believe that until i read my bible and i read in the old testament a story about a man named jonah do you remember the story of jonah god had declared i am going to destroy the evil city of nineveh but then god sent that reluctant prophet jonah to preach to the people and what happened many of them were converted and jonah 3 10 says when god saw their deeds that they turned from their wicked way then god relented he repented he changed his mind concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them and he did not do it what does that mean how does an omnipotent omniscient immutable god change his mind i don't have a clue i can't answer that and nobody can answer it it's in the mystery of god all i can say is the bible is using a human term to explain the inexplicable god changed his mind now what's interesting when you look at history in 612 bc nineveh was ultimately destroyed it was destroyed just as god said but god delayed his judgment on nineveh all because of one righteous man who was preaching the truth that's the point yes god is sovereign of course he's sovereign of course all of this is written in god's book but the fact is he has given us a responsibility as christians to push back against evil again not in order to save america our great commission is not to save america it is to save americans from the coming judgment of god by introducing them to faith in christ that is the great commission and one way we do that is by speaking out against evil of course a lot of christians don't want to do that they don't want to confront evil they don't want to push back and they come up with all kind of excuses about why they want to do that they don't want to get involved in that we don't want to speak out against abortion or transgenderism or immorality or or all of these things that are happening in our world and they'll come up with all kind of excuses they'll talk about their piety well i don't want to taint myself i'm such a holy person i don't want to get involved in the things of the world although you some misplaced theology oh i believe in the sovereignty of god and there's nothing i can do to change the direction of the world they'll even use patriotism they'll say oh well america is the land of the free and we don't live in a theocracy and i don't have the right to impose my christian values on a free society let me remind you of something every nation is built on somebody's values every nation is built on somebody's values the only question is whose values will our nations be built upon for the first 160 years of our history we were built on the values of christianity that has changed we are now being built on the values of humanism secularism marxism and most important satan himself the value system of the world we do have a right to say which values our nation is going to be built upon but people come away with all kind of excuses about why not as christians to get involved in pushing back against evil let me remind you of what happens when christians fail to push back against evil you know what the end result is we saw it 83 years ago 1939 when adolf hitler invaded poland and nobody did anything to stop him and most of all the german christians refused to stop him the german churches were silent yeah there were a few outliers like dietrich bonhoeffer but most of the german churches remained silent when adolf hitler was trying to conquer the world and they used all the excuses i just named to you their personal piety a misplaced theology a misplaced patriotism erwin lutzer recounts the testimony from a christian living in germany about the end result of indifference this person said i lived in germany during the nazi holocaust i considered myself a christian we heard stories of what was happening to the jews but we tried to distance ourselves from it because could anyone do anything to stop it a railroad track ran behind our small church and each sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks we became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by we realized it was carrying jews like cattle in the cars week after week the whistle would blow we dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the jews enroute to the death camp their screams tormented us we knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns by the time the train came past our church we were singing at the top of our voices if we heard the screams we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more years have passed nobody talks about it anymore but i still hear the trained whistle in my sleep god forgive me forgive all of us who have called ourselves christians yet did nothing to intervene we can't hear the screams of the 50 million children who have been murdered in the womb since roe v wade god forgive us for not doing more to stop the slaughter of the unborn god forgive us for not pushing back harder against the evil that is overtaking our country jesus said we are to be salt when it comes to this idea of pushing back against evil and influencing the culture you know i have found his pastor christians tend to go to one of two extremes one is to isolate themselves from the culture they're salt that remains in the salt shaker they just try to keep themselves encouraged we'll keep in our holy huddle and learn the truth of god but we're not going to get involved in the culture we'll just isolate ourselves and we'll tell you how much more spiritual we are than you are because we refuse to get involved in the culture other christians go to the opposite extreme they say we're going to identify with the culture and they become so much like the world that you can't separate them from the world the world does a better job of influencing these christians than the christians do in influencing the world jesus had a word about that jesus day you couldn't buy pure salt it was too expensive so you'd buy a mixture of salt and sand and eventually the sand would break down the salt and that's why jesus said if the salt has become tasteless how can it be made salty again it's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men as christians we're not to isolate from the culture we're not to identify with the culture we're to influence the culture and that means it's time for us to get out of the shaper and to get involved we push back against evil but there's only one reason we try to delay the destruction the unraveling of the world we're in it's so that we can do the second thing jesus said we're to do and that is to be the salt and to be the light of the world look at verse 14 the necessity of light you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lamp stand and it gives light to all those who are in the house we don't generate light but we reflect light you remember in john 9 5 jesus said i am the light of the world and then here he says you are the light of the world the sun generates light we don't do that but we're more like the moon that reflects the light of the sun the only reason we've been left here on earth is to reflect and point people to the son of god jesus christ and quite frankly what's the use of being salt of enhancing people's spiritual thirst if we don't clearly tell them where to go and satisfy that thirst through the water of life jesus christ what use is it to slow down and delay god's judgment on this world if we don't tell people how to escape that coming judgment by trusting in christ as their savior and that's why jesus is very clear here he says we have to verbally point people to christ and lead them to know christ as savior i'm reminded of the story about the christian man who worked alongside a non-christian for 20 years and this christian decided that he was going to be a silent witness for christ have you ever heard that term i'm going to be a silent witness that's an oxymoron there's no such thing he said i'm going to be a silent witness i'm going to pray for his salvation and try to exhibit christ to him not by what i say but how i perform my work and how i treat him so for 20 years he did that one day the non-christian came in and said to the christian the most marvelous thing has happened to me and this christian man said what is it he said last night i trusted in jesus to be my savior and i know now my sins are forgiven and the christian was so excited he said oh that is great how did that happen why did you become a christian thinking he was going to hear about the central role he had played in this man's salvation and the new convert said you know i've been standing next to you for 20 years watching you and i thought if any man could go to heaven by his good works it would have been you i had no idea you were a christian but a neighbor told me last night about how to trust christ as my savior the fact is nobody's going to be one to christ by just looking at you or me they have to hear faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of god that's why in first peter 3 15 peter said but sanctify christ as ward in your hearts always being ready to make a defense to everybody who asked you to give an account for the hope that is in you yet with gentleness and reverence he said make sure you know how to explain christ to people when they ask you about what about your views about what's happening in ukraine or what you think about the predestination or what you think about just a thousand different topics no when somebody asks you about the hope that is within you people are attracted to the gospel by what they see in you but you've got to be ready to tell them why you've got to be ready to point them to faith in jesus christ and jesus uses two examples to point out the importance the necessity of being light he said first of all we're like a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden in jesus days israel was dotted by small rural communities all over the landscape but there was one hill and there was one city on top of that hill and that was jerusalem and the light of the homes and the light in the temple could be seen from miles away where the city set on the hill by the way that's not referring to america or israel it is christians the church of jesus christ we are the ones on the hill we're the light that attracts people who are living in darkness he goes on to say you are like a lamp that is put on a lampstand the lamp he's talking about it's kind of like the lamp in aladdin it is a clay vessel with a large reservoir for oil and it would be lit and it would be put where under a basket no it would be put on a lamp stand so it could illumine the entire house and everybody could see it just imagine the middle of the night on one of these cold nights the electricity goes off in your house like it did in many of our homes last year fortunately you have a flashlight and you reach in the drawer by your bed for the flashlight but before you turn it on you think you know what maybe i shouldn't turn this on i don't want to offend the darkness i don't want to displace the darkness maybe i ought to keep this light to myself no light is of absolutely no value in the sunlight it does nothing in the sunlight for light to do any good it has to confront the darkness and it overtakes the darkness when it does and that's what jesus is saying here your light is no good if you keep it in your pocket or you only bring it out when you're surrounded by other light other christians light was made for the darkness and paul has this in mind in philippians 2 verses 15 and 16 when he says in the midst of this perverse and wicked generation you are what children of light holding forth the word of life jesus christ in his written world a written word the reason god has placed you in that business the reason you're placed in that school or the reason you're placed in that dark neighborhood is so that you can be a light don't curse the darkness confront the darkness with the light of god's word that's why you are here jesus said you are the light of the world what does this mean for us today what's the relevance of this passage for us today let me look at that in two ways first of all let's look at that individually for christians individually remember again the emphasis is you are salt you are light it's not they it is you are you looking for opportunities in your conversation to create spiritual thirst in people are you doing what you can to push back against evil for you pushing back against evil might be going to a school board meeting and voting against these ungodly ideas that society is trying to cram down our children's throats pushing back against evil may mean voting and not for a perfect politician there is no such thing there are no perfect pastors or politicians but voting for the candidate who best represents god's values and biblical values are you being salt when it comes to being light are you praying actively for non-christians you are involved with right now are you looking for opportunities to share how to become a christian with them do you even know how to share with them how to become a christian we had a great women's conference here friday night and saturday and yesterday afternoon i was seated at the back because julia was talking and she was telling the story about when she and ryan were first married they've always had a heart for evangelism when they first moved to dallas they made a list of everyone in dallas they knew the contacts whether it's family members or friends or people they were going to school with who were not yet christians they made a list of those people and they decided to schedule an appointment with each one of them either for coffee or for dinner and share with them the gospel and they did that and every one of those people they met with accepted christ as savior that's intentional evangelism that's what it means to be light individually we're to be salt and light but this also has a meaning for our church collectively you know the only thing more effective than one grain of salt is a whole shaker filled with salt the only thing more effective than a pin light or a flashlight is a flood light and that's what first baptist dallas is it is a shaker of salt it is a floodlight of the truth and that's why we come together as a church that's why god created the church let me be real specific about what this means for our church as a church we are to be involved in pushing back against evil first baptist dallas is supposed to push back against evil and god has given us a unique opportunity to do that and a responsibility to do that i was talking to an interviewer this week he was from a secular outlet in new york and we were talking about a variety of things and he said you know you sure get involved in politics a lot why do you get involved in politics and i said nicely i said you know what if martin luther king jr were alive today i bet you wouldn't ask him that question dr king why are you involved in civil rights why are you involved in politics why don't you just preach the gospel at ebenezer baptist church i bet you wouldn't have asked him that question but if you had you know what he would have said to you he would have said civil rights that's not a political issue that's a moral issue there's a reason christians in the 19th century got involved in the abolition of slavery if you would have said to them why are you involved in politics they were said that's not politics that's morality that's spirituality that's a spiritual issue owning one human being or several human beings that is a moral issue today people get involved in the pro-life issue and they're criticized for it why are you getting involved in politics why is the church involved in politics that's not a political issue that is a moral issue the sanctity of life is a spiritual issue that word politics comes from a latin word that means to influence when we say christians shouldn't be involved in politics or pastors shouldn't be involved in politics what we're saying is christians shouldn't try to influence the world in which they live can anybody believe that and say that with a straight face that's exactly what jesus called us to do to get involved in pushing back assault against the evil that is in the world and i want to say to you because some of you are new some of you are visiting our church first baptist dallas will never be involved we never have been and never will be in partisan politics we are not an outpost for the republican national convention we are not a republican church i'm not a republican i don't identify as a republican we're not a republican church we're not a outpost for the democrat national committee but we are always going to speak truth and we're going to stand up and push back against evil wherever we find it we're always going to do that and look give credit to where credit is due i applaud the biden administration and what they're doing in instilling these sanctions against russia and providing help to ukraine and i hope they'll provide more help to ukraine and i congratulate them on that but that doesn't erase the fact that the policies of the biden administration have become the most ungodly policies of any administration in history and let me show you what i mean by that people challenge me on that this week the united states supreme court announced they are going to hear a religious liberties case deals with a web designer in colorado who refused to make an invitation for a same-sex marriage because she said that violated her christian beliefs and she could not do it this case is going to the supreme court it is the biden administration that is arguing that it doesn't matter what she believes religiously she ought to be forced to have to design that wedding invitation that is the bible administration it is the biden administration that is arguing for sex change operations for minor children who are confused about their gender the entire transgender movement is ungodly it is an affront to god and it is the biden administration that is cramming that down the american people's throats and right now the supreme court is considering a decision that would either overturn or sharply diminish the effect of roe v wade and it is the biden administration their department of justice that has gone to the supreme court arguing that the right to murder children ought to continue to be a right in america that is ungodly and the reason i am calling out the biden administration is not because they're democrats it's because they are wrong and we're going to continue to speak out against that that is the church's responsibility now over the last few months i have made some cryptic comments to you all about an attack against our church and i've had to be cryptic about it i can't tell you the whole story right now i will one day hopefully one day soon i can't tell you all the story but what i can tell you is this our ride as a church to speak freely in this pulpit and to be free to conduct our services as we want to is being challenged and um i want to also tell you that we're winning the fight we are winning the fight and we are going to win the fight not because we believe god is on our side but we know we're on god's side and that's the side you want to be on when it comes to freedom and the pulpit and freedom in the church that is god's side but we've been involved in that conflict and just very recently a high-ranking official in washington d.c said to me said you realize that of all the churches in america they could have chosen to go after they've chosen the first baptist church of dallas because they know if they can win with you it will have a chilling effect on thousands of churches in america government has no business interfering with the worship service or the speech of any church we could cave in it'd be a lot easier to cave and so forth but the reason we're pushing back and pushing back hard is we realize what happens here will determine and affect churches everywhere and i think you can be proud that you're a member of first baptist church dallas right now you know this official said to me this official said to me you ought to see this as a badge of honor that they've chosen your church to go after and i thought i don't see it as a badge of honor i see it as a badge of responsibility we are going to remain firm in this fight because we know what happens here affects churches everywhere and again i want to say thank you for being the kind of church that is willing to stand strong because if we cave in on this it will have repercussions for years on thousands of churches thank you church for remaining strong we're going to push back against evil every opportunity we have to do so but let me just say the reason we're pushing back the reason we want to remain free to say whatever god leads us to say the reason we're standing up against abortion transgenderism and standing for religious liberty is so that we have opportunity to be the light that god commanded us to be and god's given us a unique opportunity to do that as well the reason we took a sunday off from sunday school a couple of weeks ago to train you in sharing the gospel is so that we can be that light in the city of dallas this fall we are going to have a campaign to flood the entire city of dallas with the truth about jesus christ and right now we are broadcasting the message of god's love through christ jesus to all 195 countries the reason we're doing that is so that we can be a light just recently i received a letter from a public school teacher in an inner city school in los angeles she said thank you thank you first baptist dallas i listen to pathway to victory every morning on my way to school gives me the hope gives me the knowledge i need to share with my students in that inner city school that's what we are about and that's what we're going to continue to do instead of cursing the darkness we're going to turn on that floodlight until jesus comes again piercing the darkness with the light of god's word let's bow together in a word of prayer i'm going to ask that nobody move or leave for any reason this is the most important time of our service i realize i'm talking to some of you here in day one or in our worship center maybe online you've never received the forgiveness of your sins that christ came to give to us and today if you would like to receive that gift of eternal life i want to encourage you wherever you are to pray this prayer in your heart as i prayed out loud knowing that god is listening to you would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know i have failed you in many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe that you sent jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment i deserve to take for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me from my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen if you're watching online right now and you prayed that prayer to trust in christ i want to encourage you to go to the top of the screen click on that link that says i prayed to trust in christ and i'll send you this week some free material about what it means now to live as a christian so don't wait another moment go to the top of the screen click on that link for those of you in day one or here in our worship center i'd ask you to take out the card that's in your bulletin right now and if you prayed that prayer with me check that third box and we'll send you the same material it says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ today if you're a guest you can check the first box if you'd like to join our church today you want to be a part of a bible-believing church check that final box and when you finish doing that you can drop it off at the welcome center on your way out and receive an exchange for your completed card a copy of my newest book invincible or you can drop this off in the receptacles on the way out we'll process the card and get the book to you right away so thank you so much for doing that tonight we are back with discipleship university at 5 30 and i want to say thanks to pam brewer and all of our women's ministry for our great women's conference this weekend friday night and saturday hope you have a tremendous week in the lord we'll look forward to seeing you next time let's stand together now as tyler comes to lead us in our final song thank you pastor an incredible morning of worship let's go out singing praise to our lord [Music] [Music] [Music] this is [Music] [Music] [Applause] god bless you church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas eye campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastures daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas eye campus hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas today let's stand together welcome to our guest and i campus viewers wonderful grace of jesus greater than all my sins how much describe it where shall the praise begin taking away my birth [Music] for the wonderful grace of [Music] jesus i thank you for your grace [Music] [Music] thank you for your grace [Applause] [Music] [Music] of jesus christ [Music] grace of jesus [Music] of jesus for the wonderful grace of jesus [Applause] [Music] i thank you for your grace [Music] i thank you for your [Music] you grace your [Music] grace together [Applause] [Music] i thank you for your grace i thank you for your grace [Music] [Music] lord we thank you for your praise [Music] [Applause] praise the lord we bless his name inhabit the praises of your people as we worship you [Music] we are here for you we are here for you let your prayer let your bread come from heaven fill our hearts with your life we are here for you we are here for you you our hearts you our hearts are open nothing here is [Music] [Music] we are here for you that's why we come here today [Music] [Applause] [Music] we are here for you [Music] you are [Music] [Applause] [Music] fall down is [Music] [Music] [Applause] let your fire fall down fall down [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] praise the lord incredible worship church you may be seated and it is so good to see each of you for worship this morning here at first baptist dallas and we welcome our guests joining us here in the room as well as on our eye campus this morning guest we have a very special gift for you today it's our pastor's new book invincible conquering the mountains that separate you from the blessed life guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you'll find and close this welcome card please take the time to fill this out keep the card with you at the end of this morning's worship service just take it outside these doors right there you're going to find our welcome center our staff's waiting there for you we look forward to meeting you and you'll exchange your completed card for your gift today and we'll be happy to answer any questions you have regarding our church if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can just place the card in one of those and we'll mail you a copy of your gift as an expression of our appreciation for your visit today and if you're joining us on icampus just follow that link provided on your screen to access your gift as well we welcome each of you to worship this morning so many exciting events taking place here in the life of our church at first baptist dallas let's all take a look together now at the screen [Music] well good morning we are so thankful to be with you in worship today and we want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events on saturday march 12th we have a church-wide opportunity to gather and make a difference in our community through our local mission partners with serve dallas in just one day volunteers experience a little bit of what our local partners do every day serving is truly a privilege and as a church we counted an absolute honor to be able to serve our city have you ever wondered how you could develop spiritually as a family or how you can navigate your child's emotions join us for our parenting hot topic sessions on sunday march 20th with speaker david thomas david has over 20 years counseling kids and families on christian childhood development our first dallas women had an amazing weekend at heartstrong faith if you left the conference looking for community throughout the week connect through our bible study oh taste and see a sampling of the psalms for more information on everything happening at our church visit firstdallas.org events before we read our scripture today i want to say a word you know we began our service singing about god's grace and i want to say a word of thanks to you for praying for god's mercy in ukraine the focus of the world is there and our ministry has worked there for quite a number of years training hundreds of people to be more effective in using media to share the gospel of hope and many of them are still there in the capital city of kiev and we're praying for them and i just want to say thank you 2 30 this morning i got a text message from one of our people who has been here in our worship services who detailed many things going on but all of them say thank you for those who are praying for us that is god's answer it's through prayer and his power so thank you thank you for that i know that men will be leading us in a time of prayer specifically for ukraine thank you for continuing to do that let's read god's word together and we're reading from matthew chapter five in preparation for the pastor's message we'll read verses 13 through 20 and read from the new american standard bible those words will be on the screen here in the worship center and for eye campus as well and we stand onto the reading of his word here at first baptist so join us in standing as we read matthew 5 beginning with verse 13 ending with verse 20. you are the salt of the earth but if the salt has become tasteless how can it be made salty again it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket but on the lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven do not think that i came to abolish the law or the prophets i did not come to abolish but to fulfill for truly i say to you until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever keeps and teaches them he shall be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven for i say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven may god richly bless the reading of his word keep standing now our good friend dr leo day comes to lead us we're delighted to have him and we continue our time of worship together [Music] good morning church let's sing together i've been changed [Music] delivered i found joy disease praise [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] me [Music] before your presence i won't go back [Music] all oh sins [Applause] [Music] all my fears [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you changed me [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] [Music] thank you lord thank you lord hallelujah you may be seated good morning as we continue our time of worship through giving and commitment i'll remind you that you can leave your tithes and your offerings to the lord and the boxes as you exit this morning you can also give online at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but this morning even as we worship our lord as we celebrate the gift of salvation in jesus christ our hearts are heavy for the people of ukraine the people who are fighting for their lives and their freedom resisting the russian invasion even as we speak we as a church have ministry partners in ukraine ron harris with media alliance manny fernandez with world link ministries our pastor has been with a pastor and missionary who's planted many churches in that nation he told us this morning that they are grateful for our prayers and he sent us videos of them singing and worshiping but they know that they're under attack we're going to be partnering with these ministries in the days ahead to provide financial support and help to the churches in ukraine this missionary told us that it's no surprise that ukraine is under attack by the adversary ukraine has been the most open to the gospel of all former soviet states and there are people coming from countries all around just to see what god is doing in that church so thank you church for your commitment to pray for them and to support them as they do the lord's work now many christians are wondering how to view and even respond to the events of this week so i would encourage you to read our pastor's commentary regarding this conflict you can find that on our pathway to victory website at ptv.org and i'd also encourage you to watch his interviews over the last week that are posted to dr jeffress's social media pages but our pastor has reminded us that first and foremost we must pray for the people of ukraine and so this morning as thousands gather in our worship services and as hundreds of thousands join us live throughout the world let us join together and entreat the lord on behalf of the people of ukraine to bring an end to this conflict i'll invite you now as you're able to kneel all over the worship center as we go to our lord in prayer together gracious heavenly father we know that we live in a fallen world a world that is filled with trouble and strife a world that has rebelled against you and is corrupted by sin but we worship you as the sovereign lord almighty you rule and reign over the nations you direct the course of human events yet you know when every sparrow falls and so this morning lord on behalf of the people of ukraine we seek your face we seek you on behalf of the innocent victims of this war of the families who are being torn apart of the children who are caught in the crossfire of your church our brothers and sisters in christ the pastors and the missionaries there on the ground we ask for your supernatural protection over them we know that you are a shelter and a fortress who all for all who seek you and lord we ask that you would contend with those who rebel against righteousness we ask that you would fight against those who are compelled by the forces of darkness in this world that you would turn them back in disgrace and dismay we ask that you would bring an end to this conflict and this terrible loss of life we seek your divine intervention in your power and might and lord even as we face this tribulation in our world we know that you are sovereign you are in control and you are on your throne we know that your thoughts are higher than our thoughts and your ways are higher than our ways and so we ask lord that your will be done that you would be exalted and the gospel of jesus christ will be proclaimed throughout the world as we await his return when he will his establish his kingdom of peace and we pray this in the saving name of jesus amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am the lord i'm the almighty god i am the one for whom nothing am the is and i am the door i am the good news to the bound and the poor i am [Music] i am i am [Music] i am the righteous one and i am the lamb i am a ram in the horse for abraham i am the ultimate sacrifice for sin i am your redeemer i am [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i [Applause] [Music] am messiah david [Music] i am the resurrection [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] i [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i [Music] am your future so leave your past behind i am [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i today i am [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] uh [Applause] [Applause] i am i am i am i am [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i am [Music] hallelujah hallelujah thank you so much dr leo day and tremendous first dallas choir and orchestra for your music today we want to welcome the multitudes of you who are joining us on our first dallas eye campus in all 195 countries as well as the millions of you watching or listening on pathway to victory speaking of pathway to victory i'm happy to announce that tomorrow we're continuing uh continuing to expand the outreach of our church as many of you know a few months ago we launched a new podcast hosted by my daughter julia called unapologetic reaching young adults in our country with the truth of god's word it's been a great success and tomorrow it launches on television on the total living network so pray for that outreach from our church julia has selected as her first guest to interview her her father and pastor so pray that i don't mess it up tomorrow but uh really pray for our church as we pierce the darkness with the light of god's word to all generations when abraham lincoln was forming his cabinet one of his advisors suggested a particular man to serve on the cabinet lincoln immediately said no way i don't like his face and this advisor said well mr president he can't be held responsible for his face lincoln replied every man is responsible for his own face i think of that comment whenever i'm talking to some christians you probably have encountered them before they look like they've been baptized in lemon juice you know what i mean they're always walking around with a sour dour expression now i'm not suggesting that every christian ought to go around singing zippety-doo-dah all the time that's not realistic you're not happy all the time you're not giddy but there needs to be an inner joy in our life that in spite of what is happening around us we have that calm assurance that god is in control that may not cause us to laugh all the time but there's a smile on our face when we realize somebody more powerful than we are in control the truth is what is inside of us eventually shows up on the outside of us how can you maintain that joy in your life in spite of your circumstances jesus talked about joy in what we call the beatitudes blessed happy really joyful are those who mimic jesus christ and their attitudes actions and affections how do we keep that joy well one secret to joy in your circumstances is to remember the purpose for which god has left you here on earth why is it that god didn't rapture you to heaven the moment he saved you so that you could have unending joy in a relationship with him untainted by sin why did he leave you here we're going to discover the answer to that question in the next section of the sermon on the mount turn to matthew chapter 5 as jesus gives us some straight talk about our faith i'm going to read the passage before we delve into it you are the salt of the earth but if the salt has become tasteless how can it be made salty again it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket but on the lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house let your light shine before men in such a way that they see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven you are the salt of the earth you are the light of the world let me point out three similarities that you find in these two metaphors first of all both of them are affirmative statements of what we are he doesn't say you aren't an adulterer a murderer or a drunkard a lot of times christians today are defined by what they don't do you know i could say the same thing about this podium this podium has never had a drop of alcohol past its lips it has never had a lustful thought about anybody it has never even gotten angry with somebody much less murdered them there are a lot of things this podium is not but does anybody want to be this podium i don't think so jesus said in the affirmative you are salt you are light secondly notice both emphasize individual responsibility jesus begins the sentence with an affirmative personal uh direction you you you do you remember in basketball arenas a few years ago it was popular for when an opposing team drew a foul for the fans to stand up and point and say you you you you well that's what jesus is saying you not somebody else you are salt you are light in this world and then finally both are statements of fact and they're really not commands jesus didn't say you should be the salt of the earth or you ought to be the light of the world he said you are the only question is what kind of salt are you are you effective or if you become tasteless what kind of light are you are you a bright light for the gospel or a dim light for the gospel let's look at both of these statements more in depth beginning with verse 13 first of all jesus talks about the value of salt you are the salt of the earth in jesus day salt was a very valuable commodity in fact the greeks thought it was of divine origin the romans had a saying also they said nothing is more more useful than sun and salt salt was used for a variety of things to take care of animals to serve as a disinfectant to serve as flavoring like it is today to serve as a preservative it was so valuable especially pure salt that it was often used as currency did you know roman soldiers many times received their wages not in currency but in salt in fact the latin word for salt s-a-l sal is the root word for salary that we use today it's a means of payment it was so valuable so what did jesus mean when he said you are like this valuable commodity called salt i think he had two things in mind two applications one purpose of salt was to enhance thirst to enhance thirst you know today an athlete who's training in the hot sun the coach will give him salt tablets why why would you have salt well it would cause a thirst that would motivate you to hydrate yourself properly and stay healthy it was used in the same way in jesus day salt was given to animals so that they would take in the proper amount of water you probably have heard the old adage you can lead a horse to water but what you can't make him drink and that's true but you can salt the oats and that's exactly what he's talking about here salt was a way of causing the animal to want to drink in the same way jesus said in matthew 5 6 blessed are those who hunger and what thirst for righteousness unfortunately we live in a world that there are a lot of people who aren't thirsting after righteousness they have no desire for a right relationship with god well jesus said one reason i'm leaving you here on this earth is to help create that thirst he said well how do you create spiritual thirst in other people it's the holy spirit working through you but in some specific ways for example you know friday night you may be out with your mate or be out with your family for dinner at applebee's it probably wouldn't be a good idea to stand on the table top and preach a sermon from john 3 16. that may be okay but you're probably not going to do that and have a receptive audience but one thing you can do is before the meal arrives bow your heads and pray why do we pray in public it's not to make people think we're so holy but it's a way of reminding people around you that there is a god to whom we're accountable you know you consult your speech in a current crisis like we're seeing right now in ukraine a lot of people are worried we just you know heard this morning that putin has put his uh uh military on high alert and the nuclear arsenal they hold on high alert that causes some people to become nervous well that's a great advantage to salt your speech with some reminders if you heard me on fox friday night i said you know putin's evil is no match for god's sovereignty daniel 2 says god is the one who elevates kings and he removes kings the fact is vladimir putin is no more than a piece of lent on the pages of history that god will flick away as soon as he's ready to do so now is anybody going to get saved hearing that no but it reminds people that there is a god you can do that wherever you are this week amy was at an appointment and the person who was serving her said you know i don't know how you got this appointment we're all booked up i don't know how you got it and amy said well i prayed about it i prayed that god would open up a time and that opened up a spiritual discussion when i was in the ninth grade amy and i were in an english class together at richardson west junior high and she wasn't a christian yet and we had a teacher mrs madison and she was a christian and she was a part of this church and she wanted to use her position as a public teacher to be a witness for christ but she also didn't want to be fired for doing so so she was very careful about what she did should choose books that had a great spiritual theme for us to read and to report on she would ask leading questions of the class questions like do you think it's possible for somebody to know what happens after death and that would be my cue to raise my hand and say oh yes ms madison you can know for sure and i could share the four spiritual laws at that time well amy will tell you to this date that she couldn't believe that i would always answer those questions and that anybody could know for sure they're going to heaven when they die and she would think who is this know-it-all jerk who thinks he has the answer to everything of course 50 years later she's still asking that question that's a different sermon topic but the point was that's the year she ended up becoming a christian and she'll say part of the catalyst was a public school teacher who salted the oats who created spiritual thirst using the position she was in that's what jesus is talking about here when he talks about being salt one idea is to enhance thirst but there's another application of bean salt and it really was the main use of salt in jesus day and that was to preserve food remember in the days before refrigeration the only way you could preserve meat was by packing it with salt now salt did not prevent the decay of meat that was a natural process that could not be reversed you could never reverse the decay of meat but you could delay the decay of the meat by packing it with salt you gave the meat a longer shelf life until it had to be thrown out and jesus said in the same way you and i are salt we are restrainers of evil that is destroying our world in 2 thessalonians chapter 2 verses 6 and 7 paul alludes to that he's talking about the future antichrist that the world will witness during the last seven years of earth's history and look at verse six of second thessalonians two and you know what restrains him that is the antichrist now so that in his time he will be revealed for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he who now restrains will do so until he the is taken out of the way who is it that is restraining the antichrist right now who is it that is restraining evil until he the restrainer is taken out of the way well he is the holy spirit of god he the holy spirit of god is in the world right now restraining evil how is he doing it he is doing it through the individual christians he has left in the world how do you get that pastor because notice he the holy spirit will restrain until he the holy spirit is taken out of the way when is the holy spirit going to be taken out of the world at the rapture of the church when all christians and dwelt by the holy spirit will be removed and the earth will see what it's like to have no godly influence save those 144 000 witnesses but the church will be gone and it will take only seven years for the church for the world to completely unravel so what is restraining evil right now it is the holy spirit in the lives of christians we can't prevent the destruction of the world ultimately but we can delay it we can push back against it imagine a giant dam that over is over a small village and that damp is dam is holding back massive millions of gallons of water but leaks start springing up in that dam it starts bringing leaks everywhere the bricks are beginning to crumble and a hundred of the men of the town go up to that dam and they push back against it they know that eventually the dam is going to crumble their efforts will be futile but all they're trying to do is buy a little more time so that the people in the village below have time to flee for safety that's the picture of what we are doing right now we are the ones the restrainers of evil pushing up against that flood of iniquity that is about to descend upon our country and upon our world that is our job as salt to push back against evil now i know some of you are thinking now wait a minute how does that fit with the truth of god's sovereignty pastor don't you believe in the sovereignty of god don't you believe the day of the world's destruction has written an indelible link on god's calendar and there's not one thing you can do to change it don't you believe that yes i believe it until i read my bible now let me be clear i do believe in the sovereignty of god it's a mystery what we can't that we just can't comprehend but that doesn't negate the individual responsibility that we have we can delay god's judgment you know how i know that by reading the story of jonah god said i'm going to destroy the wicked city of nineveh the capital of assyria but god sent that reluctant prophet jonah who preached to the ninevites many were converted and notice the result jonah 3 10 says when god saw their deeds that they turned from their wicked way then god relented concerning the calamity which he declared that he would bring upon them and he did not do it god relented god repented god changed his mind how is it that an omniscient omnipotent immutable unchangeable god changes his mind about anything i don't have a clue i don't have a clue and neither do you we can't explain it the bible is explaining in human terms what we can't really understand in divine terms but the practical outworking of it is god relented of his decision now here's what's interesting when you look at secular history god eventually did destroy nineveh in 612 bc nineveh was destroyed but god delayed the destruction of nineveh because of one man's action the takeaway from me is we can push back against evil we can delay god's judgment on our nation and our world but the only reason we do that is so that we have opportunity a little more longer to spread the gospel of jesus christ have you ever wondered why god allows people like vladimir putin and adolf hitler and others to wreak havoc on the world and continue in their evil ways why doesn't god put an end to it the bible's very clear in ii peter 3 verses 9 and 10 peter says for the lord is not slow about his promises some count slowness but he is patient toward you not wishing for any to perish but for all to come repentance the only reason god has not drawn the curtain on human history and sent christ back is to give people longer to share the gospel if we're fulfilling our christ-given purpose to be solved it means we are being a preservative we are pushing back against evil not to save america there is no command in america for us to save america that's not the command of scripture we have been called to save americans from the coming judgment of god by introducing them to faith in jesus christ that's why we push up against evil and you know there are a lot of christians today who have come up with all kind of excuses of why they shouldn't get involved in pushing back against evil they talk about their own piety well i'm just too holy and i can't get involved in the worldly things i just can't do that at all i might taint my holiness some use theology as an excuse well we can't change the sovereign plan of god god is going to do whatever he's going to do some even use a false patriotism of saying well this is america and i shouldn't impose my christian views on a free country let me remind you something every country is built on somebody's values every nation is built on some value system for the first 160 years of this nation we were built on the values found in god's word now we are following the values of atheism marxism humanism but every nation is going to be built on some set of values should we get involved in pushing back against evil or should we just stay in our holy huddle and talk to one another erwin lutzer my good friend recounts what happens when christians are indifferent about what is happening in their nation and in their world if you want to know the end result of christian passivity just remember what happened 83 years ago when adolf hitler invaded poland in 1939 and then he started his march across the world the fact is the reason he was allowed to do what he did was the indifference of the german people mainly german christians there were a few outliers like dietrich bonhoeffer but the majority of german christians remained silent under this ungodly dictator and they used all the excuses piety and their theology and their false sense of patriotism to remain silent dr lutzer recounts the testimony of a christian living in germany about the end result of indifference i lived in germany during the nazi holocaust i considered myself a christian we heard stories of what was happening to the jews but we tried to distance ourselves from it because what could anyone do to stop it a railroad track rain ran behind our small church and each sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks we became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by we realized it was carrying jews like cattle in the cars week after week the whistle would blow we dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew we would hear the cries of the jews enroute to a death camp their screams tormented us we knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we begin singing hymns by the time the train came past our church we were singing at the top of our lungs we heard the screams we sang more loudly and we soon heard them no more years have passed nobody talks about it anymore but i still hear that train whistle in my sleep god forgive me forgive all of us who called ourselves christians yet did nothing to intervene there are churches across this country there are churches all over the community of dallas right now that are singing at the top of their lungs to try to drown out the evil that is pervading our country right now we dare not do that we must speak out and push back against evil and we're going to continue to do it you know when it comes to our role in the culture and pushing back against evil christians go to one of two extremes you know there are some christians who want to isolate themselves they're salt but they're going to stay in that shaker and they come up with all kinds of reasons they isolate themselves from the culture there are other christians who go to the opposite extreme they identify with the culture they become more like the culture rather than the culture becoming like the church they adopt their value system they become just like them jesus talked about them in verse 13. in jesus day you couldn't buy pure salt it was too expensive you'd buy a mixture of salt and sand and eventually the sand would break down the effectiveness of the salt and that's why jesus said if the salt has become tasteless how can it be made salty again it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men once the salt lost its sting its tastiness its preserving influence it was thrown away that's happening to christians who become more like the world than they should no jesus said don't isolate yourself don't identify with the culture instead influence the culture permeate the culture get out of the shaker get involved in the world of business and politics and entertainment god needs his people in those arenas to be that preserving influence that god has called us to be but notice jesus gives another image that describes our purpose and that is light he talks about the necessity of life you are the light of the world you know it's interesting in john 9 5 another one of those i ams that we heard about this morning one of those i am's was i am the light of the world but here jesus says you are the light of the world jesus is the light who generates light he's like the sun but you and i don't generate light we're like the moon we reflect the light of the sun and our job here is not just to push back against evil but it's also to share the light the only light of the world jesus christ i mean quite frankly what use is it to create spiritual thirst in people if you never show them how to satisfy that thirst through the living word of god jesus christ the water of life what use is it to delay god's judgment on the world if you don't tell people how to escape god's judgment in their life by trusting in christ as savior and that's why jesus says we must be the light of the world you know i am reminded of the story of the christian who worked alongside a non-christian for 20 years and when he first discovered this man was not a christian he said to himself you know what i'm going to be a silent witness for christ have you ever heard that term a silent witness it's an oxymoron but people think i won't share my faith i'll just try to live out my faith and maybe this person will magically come to faith in christ so for 20 years this man never mentioned he was a christian just tried to witness to him through his attitude and the way he treated him after 20 years that non-christian came into work one morning and said to the christian the most marvelous thing has happened to me last night i trusted in christ to be my savior and the christian said that is wonderful what led you to do that thinking for sure he was the catalyst for the man's conversion and this newcomer said you know i worked for you beside you for 20 years and i saw the great attitude you had and the way you treated me and i thought to myself if anybody could work his way to heaven it would be you i never knew you were a christian but last night my next door neighbor showed me how i could come to know christ as well look living out your faith is great we ought to be positive examples but if that's not accompanied by an explanation you can actually confuse people about the way to eternal life that's why peter said in first peter 3 15 sanctify christ and as lord in your hearts always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asked you to give an account for the hope that is in you yet with gentleness and reverence peter is picturing somebody who's coming to you asking what is the secret of your life why are you so filled with hope with all that is happening make sure you're ready to give a defense to lead people to the truth of jesus christ jesus likens believers to a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden verse 14. in israel in jesus day the country was dotted with small rural villages but there was one hill and there was one city on that hill it was jerusalem and at night when the temple lights candles were on and the individual homes were lighted it could be seen for miles away what is the city set on the hill today it's not america it's not israel it's not a nation it is christians he said who are showing forth the light of god's word in a dark world he said not only that you're a lamp that cannot be hidden in jesus day for light in the house you would take a lamp kind of like aladdin's lamp and it was made out of clay with a reservoir of oil in it it would be lit and then it wouldn't be hidden under a basket it would be put on a lamp stand so that it could shine for everyone to see for a light to be effective it has to be seen just imagine in the middle of the night during one of these cold dallas nights your electricity goes off your house is completely black but you remember you have a flashlight in the drawer beside your bed so you reach for the flashlight you're about to turn it on and you have another thought and you thought you know what i sure don't want to offend the darkness by showing this light that will chase the darkness away i don't want to offend the light would you do that no light is meant to confront the darkness in fact light is of little value in the light a flashlight makes no difference in the sunlight it's in the darkness that it does its work and the fact is if a light is going to be effective if we're going to be effective we're effective for christ not when we're around other light sources other christians it is when we are in the darkness light has to confront the darkness and it chases the darkness away perhaps you're wondering right now why is it god put me in this company where there no christians anywhere to be found why did god put me in this ungodly school why did god put me in this neighborhood where i'm the only believer you've just answered your own question paul said in philippians 2 15 and 16 for in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation you are children of white holding forth the word of life as the old saying goes instead of cursing the darkness light a light and we are the light of the world what's the application for us of this message there are two applications one for christians individually remember he starts with you individually you are salt are you looking for opportunities to create spiritual thirst with the people around you by what you say as far as pushing back against evil what can you do to push back against evil it may be going to a school board meeting and voting against a policy that is trying to cram ungodly thoughts into the lives of our children it may be voting not because a candidate is perfect and godly but because at least they embrace godly values there are a lot of things that you can do individually to push back as far as being light are you praying for non-christians around you praying for an opportunity to share with them the way to heaven you know i am so proud of my son-in-law ryan and my daughter julia they have such an evangelistic heart about them they always have had when they first moved to dallas 14 years ago to be interns in our youth ministry when they came to dallas julia and ryan made a list of all the non-christians they knew in dallas friends or family members who needed to know christ as savior they made a list and they made a commitment that they were going to schedule an appointment with each one of those individuals either for coffee or for dinner and they were going to share with them the gospel and julia said in her talk yesterday at the women's conference they kept that commitment and they saw every one of those individuals come to faith in jesus christ that year now that's something we can all do that's something we can all do but we have to be intentional about it to be that light that god has called us to be but there's also secondly an application for christians collectively we're not just individual grains of salt or an individual flashlight we're in a church you know the only thing more effective than one grain of salt is a shaker of salt the only thing more effective than a pen light or a flashlight is a flood light and that's what we are his first baptist church dallas we are a shaker of salt we are a floodlight for the gospel now there are some of you who are new to our church there are some of you who may be visiting our church so i want you to understand something about our church what it means for us to be salt god has given us an important amount of influence in this world a great platform that we need to be faithful in using for god part of our strategy in being salt is to push back against evil god's given us the ability to do that in a very public way i had an interviewer this week from new york he was in a secular group but he did an interview with me and he said pastor you get involved in politics why do you get involved in politics it was a friendly interview i said i bet if martin luther king jr were alive you never would have asked him that question dr king why are you involved in politics civil rights that's politics why don't you just preach the gospel at the ebenezer baptist church and you know what dr king would have said he said that's not politics civil rights is a moral issue i'm getting involved because it's a moral issue why is it that christians in the 19th century got involved in the abolitionist movement the removal of slavery there were probably some who said to those christians why are you getting involved in politics they would have said this isn't politics this is morality this is a spiritual issue one human being owning another human being today there are people who wonder why do we get involved in the pro-life movement and speaking out against abortion that's politics no that is a moral a spiritual issue the fact is that word politics the latin word for it means influence influence when you say christians shouldn't get involved in politics or pastors shouldn't get involved in politics what you're saying is christians should not try to influence the world in which they live can anybody say that with a straight face and man jesus said you are salt you are a preservative we need to push back against evil now what i want to say clearly is this we will never we never have and we never will at first baptist dallas get involved in partisan politics we are not an extension of the republican national convention we are not an extension of the democrat national convention i'm not a republican or a democrat i vote according to biblical values we will never get involved in partisan politics but we will always speak out against evil wherever and whenever we find it now [Applause] i think to be fair to be fair i have to commend the biden administration for their response in ukraine i commend them for imposing these tough sanctions i commend them for sending military aid to the ukrainians and i encourage them to do more and more and more of that but the good they are doing in ukraine does not erase the fact that the policies of the biden administration are the most ungodly policies of any presidential administration in the history of the united states of america that is just a fact this week this week the supreme court said they will hear a case they are willing to hear a religious liberty's case it involves a web designer in colorado a christian who was told that she had to design an invitation for a homosexual marriage marriage that's no marriage but she said they said you have to design a wedding invitation or be fired and she pushed back and said my religious beliefs do not allow me to condone what god has condemned so the issue is going to be should she be forced to make that wedding invitation the biden administration says yes in fact right now they are reversing every religious liberty protection the former president put into effect they are doing a war against religious liberty they are ungodly in doing that it is the bind administration that is arguing for sex change operations for minor children who are confused about gender this whole transgender agenda that they are cramming down the throats of americans is nothing but an abomination to almighty god he's the one who creates people male and female not us [Applause] and this let me say this the supreme court has announced that this summer they will issue a ruling in a challenge to roe v wade for the first time in 50 years there is the opportunity that we will overturn this this ruling that has sanctioned the murder of 50 million children since 1973 they are seriously considering overturning it or seriously diminishing it it is the biden administration those justice department officials who are arguing before the supreme court parents ought to have the right to murder their children that is the biden administration and again the reason i say they are the most ungodly administration in history is not because they are democrats it is because they are wrong and we're going to continue to say that every opportunity we have to save it [Applause] that's the role of the church that's the role of the church and if you want to go to a church where that's not discussed go someplace else where they sing loud they just sing at the top of their lungs and never stand for anything this city is filled with those churches just like that now one thing we're going to stand for and push back against is the erosion of religious liberty i've alluded to you all over the last few months i've made some cryptic references to an attack that our church is under when it comes to religious freedom and i can't talk about it fully yet soon i'm going to be able to tell you the whole story about the attempt to challenge our religious liberty but i can tell you right now we're winning the fight we're winning the fight and the reason we're winning is not because god is on our side but we're on god's side and no church ought to have government telling them anything about what they can or cannot do in a worship service what they can or cannot do in the pulpit that is none of their business and we're pushing back hard against that i had very recently a very high-ranking official in washington dc say do you realize that of all the churches in america they could have chosen to go after they're going after the first baptist church of dallas and they're doing it for a reason they know if you all fail and crumble and and fold on this it will have a chilling effect on thousands of churches in america that will think up twice about what they say they will check what they say and so forth that is why they are going after you you ought to consider that a badge of honor well i don't consider it necessarily a badge of honor but i consider it a badge of responsibility they know if they can silence us they can silence anybody and that's why we are not going to allow that to happen we are going to stand firm [Applause] and i say that because you ought to be honored and proud to be a member of a church that god is using not just to protect its own religious liberty god has raised this church up to protect the religious liberty of thousands of churches just like us so let's continue to pray that god will grant us success in all of that we are called we are called to push back against evil but none of that is worth anything if we're not faithful collectively to be the light of the world the only reason we want to delay god's judgment on america and our country is so that we have longer to share the gospel and that's why a couple of weeks ago we took time from sunday school to try to equip every one of our members and how to share their faith in jesus christ we're that light in this community this fall i'm so excited about this we're going to have an extensive campaign to flood this city with the message of jesus christ right now we are broadcasting our messages to millions of people in all 195 countries around the world i got a letter recently from a public school teacher of an inter-school church school an inner city school in los angeles california that teacher is a christian she said every morning i listen to pathway to victory on the radio on my way into school it gives me the encouragement it gives me the information i need to be a witness to my students thank you first baptist church dallas for doing that that's what our church is about that's why we're here that's the only reason we're here i mean think about it why did god leave you and me on this earth why didn't he take us to heaven he didn't leave us here to build a big financial portfolio of stocks and bonds and possessions he didn't lead us here to have a successful career he didn't even leave us here to have a happy family life he left us here to be that salt to be that light and that's what we're going to do at first baptist dallas in these months and years ahead we're going to turn on the floodlight of the gospel we're going to pierce the darkness with the light of god's word let's now together [Applause] i realized that there are some of you here today some of you watching this program who have never personally trusted in christ to be your savior to wash away your sins and that's what the gospel is today if you'd like to trust in christ as your savior i invite you to pray this prayer in your heart as i prayed out loud knowing that god is listening to you would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know i have failed you in so many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today that you loved me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment that i deserve to take for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me from my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen today if you're watching online and prayed that prayer go to the top of the screen click the link that says i prayed the prayer moment you do that we'll send you some material this week about what it means to live your life now as a new christian again click on that link at the top of the page for those of you in our worship center if you would take the bulletin card out there's a place for you to indicate if you prayed that prayer with me check the third box we'll send you the material as well maybe you're a guest today check that box maybe you'd like to join our church you can check that box as well drop the card off at the welcome center and you'll receive the copy of the book invincible or drop it in one of the receptacles on the way out thank you for doing that well the pastor got wound up and this morning so i'm late i know it but we're not going to cut short this great privilege we have the hope of our country is raising up generations of children who know and love and serve jesus christ and that's what we're dedicated to doing here so we have a number of families to present to you today shelley yes sir thank you pastor we are so excited to dedicate some sweet families and children to the lord this morning and we are going to begin with mr mason glenn ellison mason was born on november the 15th 2021 and his parents are hunter and bailey ellison and coming with him is big brother beckham and big sister vivian hi beckham next we have sweet everly valencia bennett everly was born on may 25th 2021 and her parents are matthew and brianna bennett next we have sweet noah martin noah was born on july 25th 2021 and his parents are wade and katie martin and big brother ford and last but not least we have sweet molly mae sproul molly was born on october the 11th 2021 her parents are chris and nicole spruhl and big sister avery you know each time we dedicate children and families to the lord we read from the book of deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 5 through 7. and you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your might these words which i'm commanding you today shall be on your heart you shall teach them diligently to your children you shall talk of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up and parents if you would uh turn and face me for a moment we're so happy for each of your families today what a special day for you and today i want to ask you before this congregation most importantly before god himself do you promise to do everything you can to raise your children to know love and serve jesus christ with all of their hearts do you all right well let's bow together in prayer father we thank you for these four families standing before you asking for your blessing upon their home especially on their children we pray for each child here today that early in life you would give them the gift of faith so that they could come to trust in christ as their personal savior we pray you would keep every child away from evil help them discover their unique purpose for living give their parents the wisdom they need and desire from you in raising their children in a way that's acceptable to you and today father is a church we're recommitting to standing alongside all of our parents realizing how difficult it is to raise godly children in an increasingly ungodly world but help us to be successful in that and again bless every family in this room today with your presence and we ask this in the saving name of jesus amen i know that cry it's time for lunch so uh anyway thank you parents for being here i want you to turn one final time and face the congregation church let's show these families how much we love them and want to encourage them in every way we can all right well thank you all for being here today don't forget discipleship university at 5 30 tonight and we'll look forward to seeing you then and again next sunday tyler you come and close our service will you yes sir let's stand together church going out is his sultan life singing his [Music] this praise my show this is my song raising my space [Applause] [Music] god bless you church [Music] well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas eye campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastors daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus you

Channel: First Baptist Dallas

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Length: 192min 5sec (11525 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 27 2022