Labourers together with God. Every time I wake up to a new day of grace I give thanks to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ for giving me the opportunity to witness about Him in my house—in my neighbourhood or place of work—in the church. He appointed me as a Watchman and everywhere I go, God brings me to be His witness and to give a fresh and new fragrance for life unto life towards the people I meet. Brothers and sisters, dear friends, it is important and I want to emphasize the fact that our influence, which, according to the Spirit of Prophecy, is one of the most important gifts besides money and time; our influence can bring people to Jesus or can bring people to death. Do we understand the importance of our calling? Do we understand the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:14–16?
It is a great privilege to be called by God His peculiar people—a holy nation—His own special people that proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light, according to Exodus 19:5–6 and 1 Peter 2:9. But if you read those words carefully there is a condition God set up for His people both in that generation and today’s generation. The principle is the same—in God there is no changing. Remember Hebrews 13:8? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. “If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant.” Exodus 19:5
What a joy it would have been to be one of the twelve disciples, working with Jesus and sharing the thrilling news of the kingdom of God. What a joy it would have been to be able to listen to the precious lessons fall from Jesus’ lips, enjoying His presence—what a thrill it would have been. The good news, my beloved, is that we may have the same experiences as the disciples if we join with Jesus in His burden for the salvation of souls. The Holy Spirit is at our disposition if we let Him use us in finding the lost sheep and bringing them back to the feet of Jesus at the foot of the cross. But, before doing that, you and I must be brought to the feet of Jesus—at the foot of the cross. Do you agree with that? I think you should, because we cannot bring someone where we ourselves have not yet reached. I have shared this reality many times. We cannot bring people to Jesus if we ourselves have not been brought to Him. Then arises the question—“How can I know if I have been brought to Jesus?” There are many evidences, my friends—one of the best is what Jesus said in Matthew 7:16. “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Here Jesus spoke these words in the context that refers to the false prophets, according to Matthew 7:15–20. I do not want to take these words out of context, but allow me to picture it from another perspective or point of view. First of all, let us see what the Spirit of Prophecy says about the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 7:16.
“All whom God is leading will manifest a high regard for the Scriptures in which His voice is heard. The Bible will be to them ‘profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ ‘Ye shall know them by their fruits.’ We need no other evidence in order to judge of men’s sanctification; if they are fearful lest they shall not obey the whole will of God, if they are listening diligently to His voice, trusting in His wisdom, and making His Word the man of their counsel, then, while they make no boasts of superior goodness, we may be sure that they are seeking to attain to perfection of Christian character. But if the claimants of holiness even intimate that they are no longer required to search the Scriptures, we need not hesitate to pronounce their sanctification spurious. They are leaning to their own understanding, instead of conforming to the will of God.” –The Review and Herald, October 5, 1886
“In the truths of His word, God has given to men a revelation of Himself; and to all who accept them they are a shield against the deceptions of Satan. It is a neglect of these truths that has opened the door to the evils which are now becoming so widespread in the religious world. The nature and the importance of the law of God have been, to a great extent, lost sight of. A wrong conception of the character, the perpetuity, and the obligation of the divine law has led to errors in relation to conversion and sanctification, and has resulted in lowering the standard of piety in the church. Here is to be found the secret of the lack of the Spirit and power of God in the revivals of our time.” –The Great Controversy, p. 465
From these two quotations from the Spirit of Prophecy we understand that it is by neglecting the truth in their lives, the Bible is neglected—in other words, there is no sanctification because the truth is not put into practice in the daily life and so sanctification is not taking part in one’s life. Also, not paying attention to God’s voice puts someone on a dangerous ground where Satan’s deceptions can snare that soul—so, in other words, my friends, there is no evidence of good work or the good fruits in one’s life because the connection with Jesus is broken. Jesus said, without Me you can do nothing. You shall know them by their fruits.
What does it mean to be the salt of the earth? Why did Jesus use this expression? To find the meaning of these words I invite you to open the Bible and read it once again in Matthew 5:13. It says, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Now, what does that mean? You are the salt. Jesus did not say “you ought to be the salt of the earth,” or “you should be,” or “you might want to be.” He said, “you are.” I think this means several different things.
Number one, it means you are the flavour of the earth. Turn to Job 6:6. It says here, “Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?” Some food you just have to salt to bring out the flavour. A Christian adds a good flavour, wholesome, honest flavour to his neighbourhood, to his family, to his workplace. Salt brings out the best in food and you are the salt of the world, so you should bring out the best in the people that you associate with.
The Christian will be cheerful and bring out cheerfulness in his family. Bring out the flavour of Jesus. Our life needs to magnify Jesus Christ, and we are the salt of what? The Bible says you are the salt of the earth, the whole Earth—the whole World—the entire Planet. If you want people to become Christians, then you need to look like you have a little bit of happiness in your life. Christians ought to be happy. This is the reason Jesus calls us the salt of the earth. We should give savour or flavour to the world. The question is, “Do I still have that flavour that salt can give to food? Or have I lost that flavour?”
Number two. Not only should we add good flavour, but we should also be a preservation agent, because salt is a preservative. The Bible says something interesting in Luke 14:34; it says “salt is good.” The Desire of Ages tells us on page 439: Christ’s righteousness is the saving salt to the Christian. When Christ is in us this fact is very important: the salt of the Christian represents the Christ-likeness of that Christian.
Now the question is: can you and I lose our saltiness? Do you think salt could lose its saltiness? Would that be possible? We can, as Christians, lose our Christianity. If you lose your relationship with Jesus Christ, what value are you? Not much. You won’t be saved. So how can it lose its flavour? If we are taken by the cares of this world, we will lose our unique flavour. We are God’s last day remnant church; we believe God has entrusted us with a very important message, the Three Angel’s Messages that need to be proclaimed around the world before Jesus comes the second time; because of this great task we don’t want to lose our flavour. Your works are no good without the righteousness of Jesus, because salt represents Christ’s righteousness. The works we should produce are the works that God makes through us, just as Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” So, consider this—by whom is the good work done in us? God prepared the way, my friends; we should only walk in that way which is Jesus Christ. Don’t miss this point. Only Jesus Christ and His perfect righteousness will make our best efforts acceptable to God. No good works without Christ can gain anything towards your salvation. We are saved by accepting the free righteousness of Jesus Christ. So, I want you to be a good Christian. We need to hear Bible preaching that uplifts Jesus Christ. We need to uplift the truth that we have; we must not lose our unique flavour. In John 17 Jesus’ prayer was that we should live in this world but not as the world—in other words, we are not to be a part of this world.
I remember years ago in my country of Romania, where there are so many Monasteries, I had received Christ as my personal Saviour, and I wanted to share the good news that I found in the Bible with these people, with the Monks, in my missionary work there. It is very difficult to point their attention to Christ. They follow traditions more than the Bible, the simple truth just as it is in the Bible. When people see their style of life they say, well, they have consecrated their lives completely to God because, look, they do not have a family, they have no relationships with anyone—he or she is God’s servant. But what did Jesus tell us regarding living in the world but not being a part of it? He tells us that we have to live in this world; not out of this world, but in this world, spreading good flavour around us; in other words, not participating in this world’s pleasures or sin. Christians, in order to change the world, must come into contact with the world. We have to get out and share Christ with others. Are you doing that, my friend? Do you find it difficult sometimes to share your faith with people, stepping out in faith and doing some canvassing work door to door? There are souls, precious souls to be found.
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14–16. So, what is the reason for good works? Because it saves us? No, we are not saved by the good works which we may produce. Paul makes it clear how we are going to be saved. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8. Then why good works? Because James makes it clear in his epistle in chapter 2 that faith without works is dead. Then how can we explain this dilemma? The fact is that the good works were prepared by God before we were even doing them; we just walk in them. When we walk away from God’s path the results are the works of the flesh. When we remain in Jesus then those deeds are not ours, they are the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in us, my friends. Here is the secret. We must remain in Jesus in order to give good flavour and be the light of the world.
In the gospel of John, Jesus said, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me will not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life.” John 8:12. My dear brothers and sisters, if we walk with Jesus then we have light, our pathway is lighted by the One who is the Light of the world. Many times in the Bible the term “light” is used. Even from the beginning, in the book of Genesis in the first chapter, verse 3, God said, “Let there be light;” the first thing that God created was light. In the gospel of John, speaking about Jesus Christ as the Creator of all things, John says, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John 1:5. You see, Jesus is the light of the world, and if we come to Him then we also are to be lights in this darkened world.
We have learned two principles in this study, both in the case of the salt of the earth and the light of the world. The first we have seen is that salt gives taste or flavour and preserves. The second is that we are lights, which shine through the darkness, making it possible that the path be lighted and walkable.
One of the functions of light is to show the way. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6. In Acts, when Saul is traveling to Damascus, he is blinded by the light as Jesus speaks to him. Throughout the Bible we continue to see the significance of light. So, being called to be the light of the world should be taken seriously, right? Paul reminds believers in Ephesians 5:8, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.” We were once in darkness, but now we are the light of the world. How are we to live, then? We are to live as children of the light. John speaks to the same issue when he says in 1 John 1:5–7, “This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
In closing I want to make an appeal to you, my dear ones—do you have fellowship with your brothers and sisters there in your local church? Do you spread the light from God’s word around you? Is there any flavour in your spiritual life? If yes, what kind of flavour, because we have seen in this study there is only one good flavour which flavours the food. Is your influence a good one and makes a direct impact in the lives of those you are in touch with? There is only One who can give us a good flavour and make us lights of the world and the salt of the earth, and that is Jesus. Have you received Him as your personal Saviour? Did you make reconciliation with God through His precious, redeeming blood? I did, and let me tell you, I am the happiest person in the world because I know in whom I believe. No matter what happens next; in this world we have troubles, sometimes a beloved one left us and there, deep within our heart remained something that we cannot go on with; the more we try to get rid of it the less we are able. But let us remember, Christ has passed through such experiences also; He understands our sorrows and pain, we are not left alone—He is still the broken heart repairer. Evil, disease, poverty and sickness will not have the last word, my friend. God will. God’s plan, God’s people, God’s church will be triumphant at last. The work of God on earth will be finished, the mission will be accomplished, the task will be complete. Jesus will come to deliver His people. He will come as a Mighty Deliverer. He will come as King of kings and Lord of lords, just as we find written in Revelation, the last book written for the last generation on planet earth.
So, my friend, lift up your eyes from the dirt of this world and see Jesus. Lift up your eyes and see Him coming soon. Lift up your eyes and take Him seriously, because there is no time to waste. If there ever was a time in which I believed that Jesus will come soon, right now is that time. Looking around us, the prophecies are fulfilled; they give us the confidence that the word of God remains forever—it is eternal, just as our Saviour is. I wish that this message will bring you closer in your walk with Christ. Share your faith with others, let your light shine and the salt give flavour, is my wish and prayer, and may God add His blessings to His word. Amen!
In Christ,
Nicholas Anca