2008 Issue 4
Matthew begins Jesus' public preaching ministry with the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7. He instructed His disciples, v. 1, on the true nature of His kingdom and the principles by which He would administer it. He wanted His disciples to be clear regarding the character of those Christ included in His kingdom. and what effect that kingdom would have on the world around it.
Having described the character of His disciples in the Beatitudes, vs. 1-12, Jesus defines precisely in verses 13-16 the relation of those disciples to mankind at large, and the mission of His disciples to the world. Verses 10-12 intimate that the body of His disciples, i.e., the church and kingdom of Christ, and the world of rebels are two antagonistic parties. Now He is going to explain that relationship in more specific terms.
Our subject is "The Christian as Salt and Light." We will look at four areas in which Christians may be salt and light: 1. In the Church. 2. In the Media. 3. In Education and 4. In Politics.
These four areas could occupy the lifetime achievements of four different men, but this story is about one remarkable man who excelled in all four areas: Abraham Kuyper of the Netherlands.
His great contribution was reminding us and demonstrating for us, that Reformed Christianity is not limited to a slice of life, but is a faith for all of life. This is vitally important because when a Christian does not think biblically in some area of life, he will end up absorbing the current cultural consensus. At this time in history, absorbing the cultural consensus will undermine every article of the Christian faith. Abraham Kuyper was a man who will not let us be comfortable with a truncated Christianity for the religious compartment of life.
At the 2007 RPCUS Bluefield Family Conference when we introduced you to our "library program" for the RPCUS seminary in Ecuador, we had no idea what wonderful and immediate response we would receive. As a result of the outpouring of your generosity we were able to provide 600 Reformed books, through the Banner of Truth publishing company, for the students at our seminary in Quevedo, Ecuador, under the ministry of William Farr. Through your desire to spread the Gospel of Christ Jesus, we have overcome a major hurdle in winning the country of Ecuador to the purest expression of the truth, the Reformed faith. The following is a list of the books that were sent as a result of your abundant gifts.
