“The Case for Christ - Part 3: Salt with Fire”

We continue tonight in Mk, chapter 9, as we concentrate on verses 49 and 50.

This is a difficult part of the entire passage. Much has been said and written about it.

But I would like to spend a little time on it, all the while asking the Holy Spirit for His guidance and praying that He will minister life to each one of us. So - let us go on. 

Parallel to this evening’s study is the theme found in Rom 12:1 - Rom 12:1: ‘I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.’   

Starting with Mk 9 once again, there - the disciples had the wrong idea of service in the kingdom of God. Theirs was one of self-centeredness, as indicated in verse 33.

When Jesus perceived the subject of their argument, He struck the chord of their quarrelsome temper by explaining what greatness in His kingdom really is.

It is not gained through selfish ambition! Oh, no! 

It is in taking on the least position in His kingdom and in becoming a servant to all!

Their inclination toward selfishness is narrow. It easily offends. Conversation among themselves is not with the grace of God, not ‘seasoned with salt’. (Col 4:6) 

So - it must be cut off at the root, He explained in verses 42 through the first part of verse 49.

Thus Jesus quickly came to the way in which the kingdom of the true and living God is designed to be carried on in His name.

What are these disciples, then, saying about themselves in arguing the point of precedence? What really was it that Jesus saw in them?

It is this: they were revealing the fact that deep down within and beneath the disputing, there was a spiritual and moral defect in them.

They professed to name the name of ‘Christ’, they were His followers, knew the power of His name, yet they were ignorant about being actual stumbling blocks in His kingdom.

They were to know clearly that self-exaltation and selfish ambition has no place in Christ’s kingdom. It does not birth ‘peace’.

The very heart and root of this is erecting the idol of ‘self’ and then it is worshipping it on the altar of ‘self’.

And the extinction of that inclination must start in the hearts, minds, and lives of Christ’s followers. 

It is that fundamental, divine truth of ‘salt with fire’ that must be implanted in them.

The disciples already knew that their thinking was faulty on this subject - that they were entertaining thoughts borne out from this defect within themselves.

How do we know this?

Look at verse 34: they were ashamed to answer the question Jesus asked! They were put to silence in His presence! 

When they were exposed to the light of His probing, they somehow knew their thinking was wrong!

Their thought of the way of service unto Christ was nothing short of self-exaltation. 

It is hypocritical and self-absorbing. It is such an impure inclination that it offends ‘little ones’. It is a stumbling block to them.

It strikes at the very effectiveness of the Gospel of Christ for it is against the purity of His work in the earth. 

Jesus knows of this disorder within. So He told them that something very radical was needed.

His way and work is totally opposite to their way of thought and ambition!

Not only did they need to correct the perception of their place of service in His kingdom - from the greatest to the least and to take a servant’s place, as well - but they had a spiritual defect that needed extraction and extinction altogether!

Listen! When we think about ourselves, keep thinking about
what respect people ought to pay us, how we ought to be first, and so many other things centered in ourselves, then - believe me - we are treading on the breeding ground of self-exaltation that is usurping the name of Jesus!

That selfishness strengthens the root of evil and it strengthens the power it is in every person! 

Thus, what was the remedy Jesus prescribed for all His followers?

Look at the last part of verse 49 and verse 50 with me: ‘Everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt...Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.’

‘Away with any such notions that would give ground for evil to thrive!’, Jesus warned!

Salt - and that with fire - is the recipe for purity of service in His kingdom.

Salt - and that with fire - is the recipe for peace with one another.

In short, salt - and that with fire - is the prescription for the effectiveness of the Gospel of Christ!

His followers need the salt; they also need the fire! They cannot go on without ‘salt with fire’.

‘Everyone’, Jesus said, ‘shall be salted with fire and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt’.

What does this all mean?

First, in verses 37, 38, and 39, please notice that the name of Jesus is significantly proclaimed.

This is the key to this passage. It announces the dignity and the supremacy of the name of Jesus! 

Then, also notice, He associated the use of His name with the action of salt in these verses of 49 and 50.

Salt that is known to be a preserving, seasoning influence is a necessary component of the service in His kingdom. 

Then, lastly, salt, as you know, was part of the temple sacrifices. The Levitical law required that the sacrifices be salted with salt.

God’s design was to preserve His kingdom and move it along in His righteous ways.

The salted sacrifice which the priests ate together at a meal symbolized this design of His, as the way His kingdom would work gracefully and peacefully.  

It symbolized His ‘supping with them’, His eating and drinking and feasting with them, all partaking of an acceptable sacrifice together.

It was the confirmation of His covenant with them. It was the eternal claim upon them. This is why it was called the ‘covenant of salt’ in Num 18:19. 

And - here in Mk 9, Christ is affirming His claim upon His disciples, upon all His followers, under this new ‘covenant of salt’ He is explaining to them.

Their service to Him with such an attitude of selfish ambition is spiritually dead, putrefied meat in His kingdom, not fit for anyone to eat.   

It would never be an acceptable sacrifice for feasting together with God.

It would never be a preserving influence in the carrying on of the Gospel news. 

It would never be a kingdom where speech is made with grace, seasoned with salt, so that there is peace among them.

When such self-service takes over, the place of the Name of Jesus is usurped!

No - it would not smoothly work that way! But - how will it work?

The follower of Jesus, salted with His salt, will receive a little one in His name. (v 37)

He will see how those who are not a part of Christ’s kingdom but are still using His name in various acts do have a place in moving God’s design onward. (v 39)

He will see how even the most mundane act, such as giving a cup of cold water in His name, is very important when done in Jesus’ name! (v 41)   

So - for the effectiveness of that work, the covenant He is making with them will produce a transmutation, a new attitude of heart.

The salt of the work of Christ, salted with the purity coming from a divine source, is what will make the difference!

Thus, He said: ‘every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.’

To underwrite that prescription, Jesus first gave another element: the element of fire with salt.

The Levitical sacrifice had to be roasted first and here is the further idea of salting with fire. 

What is it that Christ implied with this element of fire supplementing the salt?

To answer this, let us turn to Mal 3:2-3 - Mal 3:2-3.

There, the prophet, Malachi, wrote when he referred to the coming of Christ: ‘But 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 a fuller’s soap: 

And He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.’

The prophet guaranteed that when Christ would come, He would make radical changes.

In His coming, He promised a process of refining and of separating the impure from the pure. 

This process would assure His divine rule of righteousness. 

And how would He do this?

It is similar to the actual refining process. 

You are aware that the refiner kept his eye fixed on the material being refined.

He kept the fire at just the right temperature and the metal in just long enough so that all the dross was completely removed from it.

And when is that moment?

It was when he could see his own image reflected in the refined gold that glowed before him.

So, Christ, in the case of His elect, applies the fire of trial to purge away the dross. The impure is burned away so that only the pure remains.

The moment comes when He sees His own image reflected in the believer who is ‘found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.’ (1 Pet 1:7)

The salt and the fire together do its work in making service in His kingdom a true spiritual service.

Everyone who would be found an acceptable offering in service unto God will go through ‘salting with fire’.

Thus, the whole verse is, at times, paraphrased as follows: ‘Every disciple of mine shall have a fiery trial to undergo, and every one who would be found an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing to God, must have a salting, like the Levitical sacrifices.’

First, each must have the Supreme ‘Living Sacrifice’ of Christ within, ‘supping with Him and He with them’, as the confirmation of His ‘covenant of salt’ with them. 

Then, it is He living within by faith, they, ‘salted with fire’, that makes them, in turn, a ‘living sacrifice’ unto Him.

But how could such a concept given to Christ’s followers be sustained in them?

And here, once again, we look at Aaron and the priests.

Since they could not receive any earthly inheritance, the idea given to them by the Lord was that He is their inheritance. 

He was to be regarded as the greatest Treasure they could ever have.

What an impression this surely made upon their hearts as they grasped the hugeness and the boundlessness of the holiness of God and their responsibility to honor and live in that holiness - yes, to honor and live in that holiness!

Yes - He was their possession. They would not be able to imagine anything to be greater than He was to them.

Everything else, in comparison, was regarded as nothing.

Their lives were ‘living, giving sacrifices’ unto Him in this way.

Theirs was to offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness, ‘the sacrifice of praise to God continually.’ (Heb 13:15)

Therefore, it was the greatest privilege and the highest honor to have Him as their inheritance and allotment.

What an elevated and exalted place this is in the eyes of the Lord, where it counts!

What a huge responsibility in watching against the entrance of sin.
 
This was God’s gracious provision of life for them.

They could enjoy the things He sent them for their own maintenance and sustenance without guilt.

Theirs was to discharge their duty unto Him in purity, love, and meekness, regarding Him as their most prized possession wherein their selfishness is extinguished.

His was to supply their needs, keeping them covered in His love.   

Why, then, would there be any reason or any need for self-ambition, self-exaltation, or deification of anyone or anything? 

Do you see how God’s plan and way was designed to keep His sanctuary housed with the glory of God in Christ?

Finally, Jesus concluded with ‘have salt in yourselves’.

And this outcome of His work of purity and meekness is: ‘have peace with one another.’ 

This is the life of service Christ was opening to His disciples in Mk 9, and to all His followers in this dispensation.

When one really tastes of His love, feasts upon Him and with Him, that person is constrained to no longer live unto himself, but unto the indwelling Christ as this kind of a living sacrifice unto Him. 
 
He is realized as the believer’s most prized Possession.

And then - self-exaltation ‘stinks to the core’ in comparison to that truth!  

Thus, the writer to Romans wrote: ‘I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.’

We will close here for this evening and, Lord willing, continue on with some further truths in this passage next week.  

But - I hope you will ponder this very seriously and move it before the Lord during the course of this week.

May He bless it to each of our hearts and minister His life to us all through it.

May we all be blessed so much so that the world, our families, our friends are affected with the salt of the testimony of Jesus in each of us!

The Lord bless you!

Amen.

Let us pray!