In
the 1600’s John Everard wrote the following:
“My beloved, now that you are here
gathered together in this place, I beseech you hearken diligently to what shall
now be spoken. I will use no other preface than a word or two from that saying
of our Saviour in the parallel place to this, Luke 14:35, from which He makes
this conclusion: he that has ears to hear, let him hear! Let him now hear the
word of Him by whom he shall be judged in that great day. Let him now hearken
to that word which shall certainly one day, either sooner or later, rise up in
judgment against him. Let him hearken to the word of Him who spoke as never man
spoke; for His words are like the wine He made at Cana — there are no words
like His words — for the best words that ever man spoke had somewhat of self
and carnal ends in them. But in His words there is no tincture, no concourse of
the creature, no allays of human weakness, but they are all words of grace, and
peace, the words of spirit and life; insomuch that all who heard Him wondered
at the gracious words that proceeded from His lips; who, in all His words never
sought Himself, nor His own glory (as men do), but the glory of Him that sent
Him.
“No, hearken I pray you, to His word that
could have spoken far beyond all that ever He has spoken, had He but had
auditors fit to have heard and understood Him. I beseech you therefore, silence
yourselves for a while, I mean your own wit and reason, and your own blind
religious understandings, and let there be silence in heaven for half an hour,
that all things may be still and quiet within you, that you may learn to
know what it is to have salt in yourselves, that you may have salt in you,
that you be not spit out of God’s mouth as unsavory and loathsome to His
stomach. It were far better you never heard, than that those words should be
unprofitable to you.
“‘And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it
out: for it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye,
than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: where their worm dieth not, and
the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every
sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost
his saltness, wherewith shall ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have
peace one with another’” (Mk. 9:47-50)
“The things that I intend to open to you
and answer, are these three questions: (1) What is salt? (2) What is it to have
salt? (3) What is it to have salt in ourselves?
“What is salt? Christ says in my text,
that everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted
with salt. We must first find out what fire is, and then we shall know what
salt is. This fire without any doubt is Christ Himself and that very properly,
as you may see He is so called, ‘The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and
His holy one for a flame: and it shall burn and devour His thorns and His
briars in one day’ (Isa. 10:17). In these words He, the holy one of Israel, is
fire in three regards: (1) of burning (2) of heat (3) of light
“First, the nature of fire is to burn.
Fire cannot burn itself — take note of that — fire cannot burn fire, but all
things else it will burn and consume. So does Christ! He is that fire that
burns up all our works, all whatsoever that is of man’s building, and
whatsoever is not of Himself and His own work in us. All else He consumes and
annihilates. ‘The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and His holy one for
a flame: and it shall burn and devour His thorns and His briars in one day.’
Know this, the more sin and carnality, the more fire, the greater the burning;
the more sin and carnality the more fuel, the more matter for this fire; the
more sin and carnality the more treasuring up of wrath against that day, when
the wrath of God shall be revealed by fire. ‘Who may abide the day of His
coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire,
and like fullers’ soap’ (Mal. 3:2). Then Christ is this fire! And let me tell
you, this burning and consuming is for
your good; it is, that out of the ashes of the old man, which must be burnt up,
you may have a new life, a divine resurrection!
“Examine yourself, has this fire burnt up
all your works, not only gross and external wickedness, but has it burnt up all
your secret sins, all your beloved and darling desires? Has it cut off your
hands and feet, and plucked out your eye? Has it consumed your young men, your
own strength and zeal, as the prophet speaks? Ah, has it burnt up the old
heavens and the old earth, so that you may enjoy a new heaven and a new earth?
(II Pet. 3:10-13). Nay, further, let me ask you, have you thrown out all your
gods into the fire? Has it burnt up all your idols? If it has, I tell you, this
burning is not unto death, but unto life. But be sure, that as the Lord Jesus
Christ burns up and destroys, so He remakes and raises up again; and as He
wounds, so He heals and makes alive again!
“Secondly, the work of fire is to heat.
So Christ, after he has destroyed and burnt up all our actions, as they are ours
and not His, then He breathes into us a gentle warmth and heat of His own
Spirit to cherish and revive us again, so that we may no longer live our own
lives, or live to ourselves, but live the life of Christ, to raise up His grace
and glory in us.
“Thirdly, the nature of fire is to give light.
When that day once dawns to us, that Christ comes into the soul, we shall find
that He brings light with Him, and this in scripture is called Christ’s Day,
and this is a wonderful day indeed, a day of rejoicing even unto eternity. Our
first day is our own day, man’s day, and when Christ comes to burn up our day
it seems to us as a day of darkness, a day of gloominess and thick clouds (Joel
2:11). Indeed to flesh and blood the Day of the Lord is a terrible day, our
flesh trembles for fear of Him; for who shall abide the day of His coming, or
stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire! When Christ comes
into the soul, He comes not only with light to discover, but like fire to burn
up all that building that we have made to ourselves, that which we have raised
by our own power, and then breathes warmly and gently by His Spirit His own
life, until by degrees He brings a glorious light into the soul. He then turns
us from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God (Acts 26:10).
“Yes, He shines such a light of grace and glory, as makes ‘the light of
the moon as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven times
brighter’ (Isa. 30:26). As our own lives extinguish, so Christ’s life
increases, just as the prophet Elisha did when he raised the Shunammite’s
child. ‘He lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon
his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the
child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm…and the child sneezed seven times,
and the child opened his eyes…’ (II Kings 4:34-35). In the same manner we
receive warmth from Christ, and are raised to life again, and are made
partakers of His divine nature, even as a graft in a crab tree stock changes
the whole nature of the old tree, both sap, leaves, bark, and fruit; so does
Christ in union with our soul change our nature — He changes them into His own!
“And thus you see in brief what fire is!
‘Our God is a consuming fire’ (Heb. 12:29). Christ is the fire! But now, what
is the salt? I know it is taken and expounded in divers ways. Some take it be
wisdom and discretion in speech, and for proof they cite that place of the
apostle where he says, ‘Let your speech be always seasoned with salt’ (Col.
4:6). For so Solomon says, ‘A wise man may hold up his head before princes’
(Prov. 16:13; Eccl. 8:1). They give this reason, as salt preserves and keeps
things from stinking, so does wisdom so salt, and season a man’s words, that they
may not be unsavory to wise men, so that he is not laughed to scorn. We cannot
deny that.
“Others take salt to mean holiness and
sincerity in life as our Saviour says, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth’ (Mat.
5:13). That is, they say, when by their living, and their speaking the truth in
their words, and dealing justly and uprightly with men, and expressing holiness
in all their actions towards God, this seasons their lives, this makes them
savory before God and men, the salt of the earth seasoning all. So they
interpret the words of our Saviour, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the
salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good
for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men’ (Mat. 5:13).
When men live not as they profess, they are unsavory, and men tread and trample
such men’s profession as dirty and loathsome. To make a show of that which is
not, is hateful to God and men, but sincerity and integrity are savory to both;
and therefore, say they, He admonishes them to strive for sound doctrine,
integrity of life, constancy in suffering; for these things honor their
profession, and this seasons them with salt, and makes them savory to God and
men. Their interpretation is good, I reject it not.
“But to be short, that we may come to the
matter at hand, the fire and the salt are both one, ‘…for everyone shall
be SALTED WITH FIRE.’ Christ Himself is the fire, as we have shown already, so
therefore He is also the salt. Since every man shall be salted with fire Christ
has to be both the salt and the fire! So Jesus Christ is the fire that salts
every man; yea, HE IS BOTH!
“Yet I confess that the apostles were
also called salt, as Christ also said, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth.’ Not that
they were salt within themselves or the salt indeed, but were those who lived
the Christ-life, the life of Him who is salt. They were those which uttered the
salt and lived the salt, which is Christ. Therefore they were not themselves
the salt, but they were the instruments or ministers which Christ used to
convey and impart to us the true salt which is Christ, and in no other regard
were they the salt of the earth.
“And again, Christ says (in the same
sense), ‘Ye are the light of the world’ (Mat. 5:14). Yet John tells us plainly
that ‘HE is the true light, which lightens every man that cometh into the
world,’ and Jesus Himself says, ‘I am the light of the world’ (Jn. 8:12). So we
are the light of the world only because He is the one who has lighted us and now
shines through us as our light. So it is with Christ and us, we are only what
He is in us and through us! He it was also who was typified in all the
oblations and sacrifices under the law, and by all the relations, histories,
and representations throughout the Old Testament; ‘tis HE that is set forth and
intended, that He might be made known unto the sons of men. He was the true
Paschal Lamb, He was the true sacrifice, He was that fire that always burned
upon the altar (Lev. 6:13). He also was that salt commanded for the sacrifice,
for the salt was never to be wanting just as the fire must always burn upon the
altar of sacrifice. And so our Lord says, ‘For everyone shall be salted with
fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.’ HE was that salt which
must never be wanting; HE seasons every oblation (Lev. 2:13). HE is the salt of
the everlasting covenant unto you and your seed for ever’ (Num. 18:19). HE was
that salt that Elisha threw into the waters; and those many waters are many
people, as it is expressed in the book of Revelation. In sum, HE is the
substance, the mind, and the meaning of the whole scriptures!
“As He is the fire, by reason of burning, and because of heat and light; so also He is the salt that sweetens and savors everything. As He is the light that enlightens, so He is the salt that salts every man. So when His fire purifies you and His salt sweetens and savors you, your sacrifice is salted with fire and salted with salt. So apart from Christ men’s lives are unsavory, the Adamic man is unsavory as Job says, ‘Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt?’ (Job 6:6). It is not your salt, not the best duties you can perform will make you savory, except they be salted and seasoned by the Christ within” — end quote.
Those of us who walk in Agape Love are the salt of the earth!