Monday Night Bible Study

July 4, 2022

Jason Dukes did a fantastic job of leading team #mscsrweek through a group Bible discussion on Monday Night surrounding our theme for the week: Live The Salt Life. Below you will find the Outline that Jason walked through along with a group photo and a couple of videos of your camper’s singing – So amazing!

Introduction
a. Matthew 5:13 “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 under foot by men.
i. Jesus is talking about God’s children as the salt of the earth. Those who are apart of His fold, His
family, His church. Those who have been baptized into Christ.
ii. Tonight we are going to talk about the rewards of living a salt life.
b. I Timothy 4:8 for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds
promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
i. Notice the 2 primary areas of reward of living the salt life
1) Rewards in this life
2) Rewards in the life to come
Rewards in this life (“promise for the present life”)
a. Living the “salt life” brings us Purpose/Value
i. Implication in Matthew 5:13 is that if we live the salt life, we have purpose.
ii. We have all been made for a purpose in this life. Made to bring value.
1) When we fulfill this purpose and bring value, it is very rewarding.
2) Note in the verse that it says we can become useless. We can be come tasteless, of no value.
iii. There are a lot of people in our world who live without purpose. The result of that is causing great
devastation all around us.
1) When we have no purpose:
a) We waste our time away on various activities and hobbies
b) We waste ourselves on drugs and alcohol
c) We waste ourselves chasing sinful things in this world
d) Worse yet we find it acceptable to commit heinous acts such as the violence we see in our
country
e) Worse yet we don’t value human life and get so twisted in our thinking that we find it
acceptable to murder a baby in it’s mothers womb, largely because it’s an inconvenience.
iv. Think about times in our lives where we have made choices to live without purpose. When we have
just been lazy. We did nothing but binge watch that show on Netflix or sit on the couch and play vide
games all day or just sleep…….
1) We think within ourselves that this is really what we want, but once we indulged in it, we find
that it did not fulfill us. It did not satisfy us. In fact, we feel bleh, bad, yucky.
2) Our heart is deceitful in leading us to think we can find fulfillment and satisfaction in the things
it desires, when we can not.
a) Jeremiah 17:9
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?

v. A great example of one searching for purpose and satisfaction is found in the wise man Solomon, who
wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes.
1) He chased all of his hearts desires and in doing that, each and every time he found:
a) “Vanity” – worthless or futile
b) “Chasing after the wind” – you can’t catch the wind
c) He continued to find that man really has no control over much of anything. What is has
always been and there is nothing new.
d) Nothing in this life fulfilled him, gave him purpose.
e) However, he found the purpose in the end:
i) Ecclesiastes 12:13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep
His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring
every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
b. As we think about our purpose and how fulfilling it is to live for that purpose, we know this will not exclude
us from the trials and tribulations of this life, in fact they may even be increased. However, those living the
“salt life”, obedient to Jesus, in God’s fold, they have the strength from God to overcome these inevitable
trials and tribulations.
Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is
the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is
the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the
working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from
the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
i.

ii. “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God can not do”
Peace
i. Living the “salt life”, a life in which we are obedient to Jesus, living our God given purpose,
overcoming trials, brings us peace
1) Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in
which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult
in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance,
proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the
love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all
comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
ii.
c.

d. One who lives the “salt life”, per Matthew 13 has comfort in knowing they have purpose in this life, they
have the strength from God to overcome trials and tribulations and this brings a peace which is beyond
comprehension.
i. Reward/Promise for the present life
1) Purpose
2) God’s Strength
3) Peace
ii. Jeremiah 17:
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
And whose trust is the LORD.
8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.
9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?

Rewards after this life

When this life is over, we will stand before God and be accountable for our deeds. God’s wrath is real and
we deserve His righteous judgment on us to punish us for our sins.
i. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the
wrath of God through Him.
1) We often focus, and rightfully so, on the comfort in these verses. However, note how the
passage ends, saved from “God’s wrath”.
2) God’s wrath is real and avoiding
ii. We truly deserve eternal punishment of darkness and fire, that would be a righteous judgment on
each every one of us, because we have all sinned.
1) II Thessalonians 1:8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do
not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
a) No goodness, no God

iii. Rich man and Lazarus
1) Luke 16:22 Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom;
and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment,
and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried out and said, ‘Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’…….27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you,
father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he
may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

iv. Never ending
a.

b. When this life is over, we will stand before God and be accountable for our deeds. Those faithfully living the
“salt life” will have a very different reality than that described above, eternal comfort living with God
I Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy
has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in
heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice…
i.

ii. No evil/sin there
iii. No pain/tears there
1) Rich man and Lazarus is mostly about the pain and anguish the rich man is in, but we clearly see
that Lazarus is comforted.
iv. Living in God’s presence for forever!
1) Revelation 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will
not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the
city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My
new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Conclusion
a. Matthew 5:13 “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 under foot by men.
i. When we choose the “salt life”, we have purpose and that purpose brings us fulfillment, God’s
strength and peace in this life.
ii. It also brings us to the eternal glory of God in His presence, forever.
iii. There is great reward in this life and in the life to come.