2819 Church - KINGDOM GEMS | Blessed Are They | Matthew 5:1-12 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

In the opening weekend of "KINGDOM GEMS" Pastor Philip A. Mitchell guides us through Matthew 5: 1-12. Welcome to the official Youtube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators. As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

I got let me just teach this to you real quick um thank y'all gentlemen we are in uh if you welcome to our guests shout out uh welcome to everybody watching me in cities across the country shout out stay with me frank um it's week two of a brand new series called kingdom gems we are walking through the book of matthew together uh matthew is not just a book but a former outcast Jew from the first century who Jesus called to follow him and he wrote to us the book that bears his name in this series we're walking through the Sermon on the Mount it is the greatest sermon the world has ever known it is the most studied sermon in the history of the world it is jesus's teaching to all followers this is what your life should look like when you enter

into the kingdom it has been studied by believers and unbelievers the world over i said to you last week gandhi is his most famous non-believing devotee. It is Jesus' vision for you and I, those of us who are followers, when you live this way, what follows naturally is you thrive, you flourish, you prosper in the eyes of God. Last week, we tackled the Beatitudes. I'm going to have to read them to you again.

For my note-takers this week, we're going to be studying or walking through Matthew 5, 13 through 16. Just four verses. I'm not going to give you a title to this message. You'll figure out the title by the end. Spirit of the living God, we pray that you would speak to us even right now in this very moment that you would help this weakened earthen vessel communicate these eternal truths to your people I thank you for grace that has removed the migraine in this moment

I thank you for strengthening me in this moment to speak to your people. I feel healing in my head. I thank you for the prayers of the saints. I thank you something has broken this seventh day relief has come to me in this moment that your word be not hindered. May we be convicted, challenged, and changed. In Christ's name I pray. Amen and amen. I just realized that migraine lifted.

Six days of torment. Six days. When I left here last week, I had a splitting migraine right up until this very drive into the gathering. Six days. Six days. God, thank you, Frank. Thank you, Frank. Thank you, Jesus. God.

I speak healing in this room in the name of Jesus. Man, y'all don't know how bad this week was for me. Trying to read and study was hell. And trying to focus. I was laying down on couches praying and trying to think. I felt like the devil had gripped my mind with such intense pain for six days. No medication was helping but prayer. I feel grace in this moment. I feel faith for healing in this moment.

Be healed in the name of Jesus. I thank you for the prayer team for the laying on of hands the scripture says these signs and wonders will follow those who believe they will lay hands on the sick and the sick shall recover somebody just lay hands on yourself and be healed in the name of Jesus I feel safe be healed Thank you. Our family, I want to broach this second message of our series by talking to you about a very complex

and difficult reality that we call identity. Never in my lifetime have I seen a generation so confused and so misled about their identity right now as I'm talking to you all in our public discourse there are fights about words like male and female and binary and bi and this and non and what is christian and agnostic and atheist and all these titles in which people are trying to find identity and as all these fights and communication and arguments and chat rooms around the country all of them linked to identity tragically all of these conversations about identity disconnected from the Creator who in every person has left the fingerprint of his image in the imago Dei yet all throughout this country apart from the Creator God men and women

are fighting and having civil and visceral conversations about identity apart from the person who created them. Like an iPhone trying to be disconnected from Apple, human beings are trying to have real conversations about identity apart from the person who created them. Everyone under the sound of my voice right now Has an identity And your identity is being either shaped by design Or by default And whatever you deem as your personal identity I want to tell you right now

That almost everything else in your life follows how you see yourself your mental architecture whether it's healthy or unhealthy follows identity so like if you think yourself to be a victim is going to affect the way that you think if you see yourself as a winner or victor, it affects the way that you think. And so whatever you deem as your identity, it affects your mental architecture. Your mental real estate follows your identity. Your self-worth or lack thereof follows your identity. Your values or lack thereof follow your identity. There are some things I already say no to

before the temptation comes because of my identity. So your values follow your identity. Your interpersonal relationships and how you see other human beings and how you deal with other human beings, it follows your identity. Your decision making, how you handle your finances, how you handle your other human beings. It follows your identity, your decision-making, how you handle your finances,

how you handle your spouse, your kids, all of your decision-making. It follows what you think about yourself. It follows your identity, your worldview, how you see the world, the lens through which you see all of creation and all of humanity. It follows your identity.

So like if you identify as an atheist you see the world one way if you identify as a believer you see the world another way if you don't believe in god you see us as evolving from soup and animals when you believe in god you see that the universe that does not speak to me but the universe uni means singular verse means sentence i see that that came from god and not from some it in the beginning god created period universe come on the universe is giving me good luck the universe is well that's all based on your identity and how you see yourself the universe can't give you anything the universe is a created thing from God.

Uni, singular, verse, sentence. In the beginning, God created, period. Universe. Universe. There's your new universe. Your identity affects your lifestyle. It affects your priorities. All these things in the light, they just follow identity. And for all of us, our identity was first shaped by our parents or lack thereof,

our guardians, the homes or the system in which we was raised, the things we was exposed to, your experiences, your traumas and lack thereof. Everybody comes into the world like this little baby right here, innocent from the presence of God. And then whatever parents they have, whatever home they're raised in, whatever neighborhood they've been exposed to, whatever systems or group homes they've been in, whatever traumas they've been through, whatever abandonments they suffer, all of that begins to first shape our identity. Our origins are first shaped from home, our neighborhoods, our towns. Part of my identity was shaped from being in New York, yours from being in Atlanta. So that is the beginning of the origins of our identity. I know a person who

was adopted by a family, and as that person grew older, they realized my ethnic parents are not my ethnicity. And this person I know began to struggle with a sense of identity as they sat at the kitchen table and realized they looked around, everybody in this room looks different like me. And so they were searching for identity, love their adopted parents, love their adopted parents love their adopted family but searching for identity struggling to figure out who i am and where i came from this person will continue to struggle until they met the lord jesus christ and coming into the faith of god they had a rewiring of their identity where they say although i don't know my biological father i do know i have a heavenly father although i've never met my biological siblings i do know now i have brothers and

sisters who are siblings by blood and so instead of holding on to the trauma from the past of not knowing their biological family they just assumed a new identity in the kingdom and so now i have spiritual mothers and fathers brothers and sisters i may never meet my biological father but i have met my heavenly father and that person chose to just fully embrace their new identity in the kingdom and with that embrace came healing and the letting go of things from the past because identity right identity can bring healing i share this story because as i'm thinking about that person i'm reminded of these powerful variables that come out of identity and that is the connection between identity, functionality, and proper influence. Let me say this again. When I'm talking to you about identity, how you see

yourself, I'm talking about the connection between identity, functionality, how I move, and your personal influence, good or bad. So a great example of this would be the Lord Jesus Christ, right? Like he was a human being. He was born into a home with a stepfather. The scripture tells us he had four brothers and sisters, so at least two. So we know at minimum he's raised in a home with six children together. He knows he came from someplace else other than all of these other people. He came from Mary, has a stepfather named joseph has brothers and sisters who if you read the scriptures when he's an adult they call him crazy for what he thought about himself they did not believe his own family rebuked him and said you are crazy for the things that you are teaching this can affect anybody's identity

but yet our very lord went about in his public ministry and he said things like, I am the bread of life, identity. So he fed multitudes of people, functionality. So when we see Jesus feeding the 5,000 men, not including the remnant children, that function of feeding is connected to his identity as I am the bread of life. So because I am the bread of life, I feed. He said things like, I am the light of the world. And so he lived with a radiant character. His character was connected to his identity as the light of the world. He said things like, I am the door of the sheep. So because of that, he made an entranceway for people to come into the kingdom.

He said things like, I am, these are all identity. I am the good shepherd. So because of that, he taught and led people in the way that they should live he said things like i am the resurrection and the life and so he raised people from the dead he said things like i am the way the truth and the life so because of that he taught us the kingdom and was nailed to a cross these are declarations of his identity that did not end with a declaration it's going to make sense to you in a moment it's not enough to just say i am the bread of life but you don't feed it's going to make sense to you in just a moment. It's not enough to say, I am the way, the truth, and the life, but you don't go to the cross.

It's not enough to say, I am the resurrection and the life, and you leave Lazarus in a tomb. It's not enough to say, I am a good shepherd, and you don't lead people to greener pastures. So you can't make a declaration of identity with no functionality to match

and so identity what comes behind that is functionality and what comes behind functionality is influence for good or for bad so hitler said i am a hater of jews so he stirred up world wars killed over a million jews one of the most evil person in history he had an identity we saw his functionality death and what was the influence world war you see how that works identity functionality influence identity functionality influence functionality influence you cannot disconnect them and them. And the greatest thing that comes out of identity is right influence and right impact. Now, listen to what I'm about to tell you very carefully. Everybody listen to me carefully. Okay. Listen to me carefully. What I'm about to say. Everybody look right at me. Look,

pay attention. Look right at me in the world and outside the kingdom watch you can choose whatever identity you want look right at me in the world and in the kingdom you could be 14 and claim to be whatever in the world and in the kingdom watch you can choose whatever identity you want but inside the kingdom of god your identity has already been chosen for you and then the only question about the identity that's been chosen for you is whether or not you're going to fully embrace it and continue to embrace it i need to repeat this to you before i read let me repeat this to you one more time if you're saved in this room

you belong to christ just lift your hand so i can see you all right now i don't know what you identified at before you got saved for me it was thug womanizer drug dealer speak you could you could throw some names out dancer club owner prostitute whatever you just fill in the blank i knew know what I identified as. I'm a hood dude from Queens. That's my only identity. So because of that, I got hood ways. And hoodish tendencies. And hoodish behavior. Watch.

That's the identity I chose from the environment I came out of. But in the kingdom, you cannot choose your identity. In the kingdom, your identity has already been chosen for you. Watch. Ladies like this kind of talk. You've already been spoken for. You're single, but you've already been spoken for. Before he comes into your life, you've already been spoken for. Right? So in the kingdom,

you don't choose your identity. In the kingdom, your identity has already been chosen. Side note, in the kingdom, your purpose has already been chosen. That's why you discover it and not pick it. so then the logical question you should be asking me right now is pastor for some of you i'm not your pastor or preacher what is my identity. All right. So before we get to identity, let me read to you the Beatitudes one more time. Matthew chapter five, verse one.

Seeing the crowds, because his fame was blowing up, he's blowing up. He went up on a mountain and he sat down and his disciples came to him. Verse two. And he opened his mouth and he taught them saying verse three, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Verse four,

blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Verse five, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Verse six, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied verse 7 blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy verse 8 blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God verse 9 blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called and they only the sons of God verse 10 blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven verse 11 blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you utter all kind of evil against you falsely on account on my account rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so persecuted were the

prophets before you y'all remember that okay i taught you that last week these are kingdom character and the lord says when you have this kind of character you are blessed not blessed as in i'm gonna hook you up blessed as makarios you are flourishing you will be happy you are blessed as Makarios. You are flourishing. You will be happy. You are thriving. So in God's eyes, everybody look right at me. In God's eyes, when you live with this kind of character, in his eyes, you are bubbling. You may not have the zeros you want in your account. You may not turn the door that you want.

You may not drive what you want. but in God's eyes, when you live with this kind of character, you are bubbling. You are flourishing. You are thriving in God's eyes. This is your measuring stick of are you thriving? Not what you got in your bank account, are you poor in spirit? Not what you got in your bank account, are you meek? Not what you got in your bank account, do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Not what you got in your bank account are you meek. Not what you got in your bank account do you hunger and thirst for righteousness. Not what you got in your bank account are you a peacemaker. If you see these in your life, you are flourishing. Okay, now everybody watch carefully.

Now, connected to this teaching about kingdom character and view of the social persecution that will come when you live this way listen to the closing words of christ in this intro because this whole thing i'm reading to you is connected it is the intro to the sermon on the mount last week was the first part of the intro this is the second half of his intro now listen closely to the closing words of jesus in the sermon on the mount as he gives this intro to you, every follower. Listen, he's trying to embolden you, every follower. Listen, he's ascribing to you, every follower.

Listen, your pre-assigned kingdom identity. So all those things I just read to you, that is the character you should have. And then Jesus will pivot and and say now here is your kingdom identity i already chose it for you here's your identity verse 13 you are the salt of the earth but if the salt has lost its taste how shall it be salted saltiness restored it is now therefore good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled under the feet of men okay so jesus does this teaching about kingdom character that he pivots for that i said let me tell you your

identity in the kingdom you can't choose it i already gave it it to you. You are the salt of the earth is what he said. So part of your identity in the kingdom is that you are the salt of the earth. Now, last week, I taught you about the power of words. Okay. Words. I told you when they are written, they are born in a context and they live in a context and they are constructs for the commission of ideas and concepts and stories and so forth. And so if you're going to understand words, you must understand them in the context in which they were born. If you read my first journal, you would not be able to apply the principles of my first journal. If you did not know that I was 25, I was living in North Carolina. I was only married for one year. I just had my first child, and I'm trying to figure out life.

You can't take those principles and apply them to your life now if you don't understand the context in which those words were born. So Jesus says to the people listening to him is what he says to you. Here is your kingdom identity. You are the salt of the earth. Now, when I said that that nobody in this room got excited because when you hear salt you think something in a jar sitting on the table at Longhorns not Longhorns Longhorns no stay there Longhorns.

But in the context in which the words were written, salt was one of the most valuable commodities in the earth during the first century. It was almost as valuable as like money. Right? And so there were multiple reasons that people would use salt. I'm going to give you a couple just for example. Salt was so valuable it would be used for wages. Like you go to work and instead of paying you coins, they will pay you salt. So a lot of the Roman soldiers was paid in salt. Their wages were salt because it was that valuable.

And that's kind of dope how Jesus said that. I could, you know, I could preach that like, like all my preachers. that's good preaching material. Like salt. Like I'm the wages of, I'm the payment for what Jesus did. Like we could preach that if we wanted to. Right? Another reason for salt in the first century was for covenants. Any agreement between two human beings had to have been sealed with salt.

So salt was like a contract. If two men made an agreement for land they would eat salt together and as they ate the salt that was a binding contract so it would be like getting an attorney and saying sign this contract that was another purpose for salt for covenants i i could we could preach that right for all my preachers that's good preaching material right kristen uh we're in a covenant with Jesus. We're the salt of the earth, so we're in covenant with the Savior. You'll take that. Another use for salt in the first century was for seasoning. Seasoning. They had a lot of bland food.

No Lowry's. No Texas Pete. a1 the seeds or salt was almost necessary for every single meal every piece of fish everything they did that the perso to make food taste better we could preach that like Jesus is saying you're the seasoning of the earth that Christianity is supposed to make things taste better in the earth our values are supposed to make things taste better in the earth. Our values are supposed to make things better, taste better. You make the job better. You make the family better.

I'm going to season you on your family reunion and make the family reunion better. When they start fighting and pulling out guns and dice, you become the peacemaker at the family reunion. So you season the family reunion. We can preach that. But that wasn't the number one use of salt in the first century a.d the number one use of salt in the first century a.d when they had no refrigerators they would pack it into bland food god to keep food from decaying so the number one use of salt in the first century, watch, was a preservative.

It was to keep things from dying. It was to keep things from being rotten. It was to keep things from decaying. So the number one reason for salt in the first century was to keep things from decaying. If we didn't want something to die, we pack it with salt. If we didn't want something to rot, we pack it with salt. It's going to click for you in a minute. If we didn't want something to decay, we pack it with salt.

The fact that Jesus would say to them and to us, you are the salt of the earth is a presupposition. He is already telling you that the world that you are living in, the earth, it is decaying. Society is decaying. Morals are decaying. I feel it in my spirit. They are decaying, no? Marriages are decaying. Churches are decaying. Values are decaying. Morality is decaying. Goodness is decaying. Honor is decaying.

Doing right is decaying. And what Jesus is saying to his children, I'm trying to pack you into the earth like salt and what I expect my followers to do is to keep back decay don't let the family decay don't let marriages or the definition of marriage

decay don't let how we feel about children in the womb decay don't let how we feel about children in the womb decay don't let how we do church decay don't let godly values and godly standards and godly priorities don't let these things decay wherever i pack you in into that state city city, or nation, man, keep back decay. And when salt hit food, you can't see it. So this part of your identity ain't

talking about all that stuff you do on social media. He ain't talking about your preaching, your posting a microphone or song. He's talking about the way you move and live amongst people. Keep back the K on the low. It's the way you live and move in such a way that without a post, I'm keeping back the K. So that's me fighting to be a good husband with no posts. And fighting to be a good father with no posts. And trying to be a real man of God with no posts.

You are the salt of the whole earth. That in the greek is an emphatic pronoun that means you only not the government not social services i'm talking to you not social, not group homes, not anything else. You, my children, you and you only are the salt of the earth. I'm trying to pack y'all in to keep society from decay. So Jesus looking out on the crowds. Everybody look right at me. He's looking out over the crowds over this bland pile of humanity. Food with no taste. He sees the brokenness of humanity and his answer is not just pray for them.

His answer is I'm going to season y'all with my children. So when I hear people gossiping in the church, I keep back decay by saying, let's not gossip. Let's pray for this brother or sister. When I see people trying to slander in the church, I keep back decay by saying, let's not slander. Let let's pray when I see people doing things they're not supposed to be doing I don't need to make no post I keep back decay by not allowing people to so wherever I can enforce Christian values I'm being sulked by keeping back decay I see a married couple in trouble

I'm not in the air of the wife saying man you you should probably love your husband and be submitted to him and pray for him and be patient no no no no dude you should probably be patient with your wife and kind like I'm trying to keep back decay

when I go into the booth to vote I'm trying to keep back decay when I go into the booth to vote I'm trying to keep back decay I'm not just pulling a lever for blue just because I'm black who represents the values of the kingdom I pull the lever to keep back decay see if your identity is Democrat that's the way you vote if your identity is Kingdom you vote according to the kingdom. Not Republican or Democrat. Who best represents the values of the kingdom? You keep

attaching all these other things to your identity first. That's why you don't know who you are. So when you walk in a room, you don't know who you are. And when you go in a booth, you don't know who you are. And when you're in a conversation, you don't know who you are. And when you walk in a room you don't know who you are and when you go in a booth you don't know who you are and when you're in a conversation you don't know who you are and when you're in a gym you don't know who you are and when you're in a zoom you don't know who you are

you forgot that you are the salt of the earth that God has packed you into every sphere of influence to keep back decay i'm almost done no i got i got a flight to catch thank you little daughter i feel. You've always given me grace. I just always have more revelation than time. I feel like Paul. I just want to preach to you for 12 hours, but then I'll be on a SWAT. I'm talking to our chief operating officer.

How long was that sermon last week? Look right at me. Can we be honest? All right, pause. Just look at society. Marriages decaying. In the church too. Family, the concept of family decaying.

Right. Just ethics decaying. Character decaying character decaying virtue decaying so the only way you can be pretty is with your tail hanging out like women don't even think they can be beautiful unless they have naked on a post. Virtue can't be pretty. Even the way women feel about decaying, the way men are decaying. Leaders in the church decaying. Leaders in society decaying.

We don't even got nobody in the black context we look to and say, there's a leader decaying. Role models decaying. Parenting

decaying. Decency decaying. Like, are y'all awake? I'm not talking about here. I'm talking about out there. Before I land the plan, I just want to say something to you.

I never see a person open a jar in Longhorns, take out one grain of salt and throw it on a piece of steak. I've never seen anyone in my life do that. Y'all missed the point. Watch. That word you is English for you and the Greek is plural. In the Greek, the word you in this text in the Greek is plural. It's a plural pronoun. Y'all are the salt of the earth.

It takes more than one grain to season a steak. He's already whispering to you about the power of community. That it takes more than Philipilip anthony mitchell to keep back decay it takes a church in a city that's serious about the spread of the gospel and the multiplying of disciples to keep back decay you ain't never seen nobody throw a grain of salt on a steak but what we do we hold it upside down and we we pack in that steak with brothers and sisters so that y'all are ineffective to keep back decay by yourself but a squad can keep back the K in a restaurant a squad to keep back the K in a gym a squad to keep back the K on a walk and we see two people about to

fight a church to keep back the K in a city churches to keep back the K in a nation the body to keep back the K in the earth. Thank you very much, sister. So I'm talking to you. This is part of your identity. Wherever you walk into, part of your identity is wherever sphere of influence I am, I'm called to keep back decay. So why are you quiet when they're trying to redefine marriage?

And why you won't pray for the sister when she's about to walk out of her marriage? And why when you see feminists trying to emasculate men, why you don't say nothing about that? Why you like in post

when men are being torn down by women when you're supposed to be holding back decay? You see, the reason you act like that is because you don't know your identity. I already know from your post and your behavior that you don't know your identity.

See? Your identity is black woman, not salt. Your identity is fill in the blank. Whatever you identify with first, black woman, black man. So you anti-white people,

when you're supposed to be the salt of the earth what kind of foolishness is that when in ephesians he told us he's destroyed the divided line between jew and gentile but you you're so pro-black that you hate white people or you're so pro-white that you hate black people your identity is not black or white or your Greek letters or your Democrat or Republican. Your identity is you are the salt of the earth. That's what he said about you. Keep back decay. Fight to preserve the values, the teachings, the ways of the king and the kingdom. First. First.

Seek first the kingdom. First. Jesus. Put back up my text up there. Jesus. Good. So good. Put back up my text up there. Chapter 5, verse 13. Put my text back there. You are the salt of the earth.

Everybody watch the text. Look at the next clause, transitional. But if the salt lost its taste how shall it be salted it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under the feet of men now you read that it makes no sense to you because the times that we live in in because of sodium chloride it is impossible for salt to lose its saltiness that's scientific we know scientifically because of sodium chloride watch salt cannot lose its saltiness. But we have to understand where in the first century AD, there was no sodium chloride.

So Jesus lived in a time when salt could lose its saltiness. And there was only one condition in the first century that would cause salt primarily to lose its saltiness. They would harvest salt from the Dead Sea. I've been there. And if any impure substances got on that salt. If anything impure, other chemicals got in the salt salt the salt will lose its saltiness when that happened they cannot pack it into food because they had no refrigerators they would take the salt and throw it out their windows on the street and it would just get trampled it would be no good for anything let me repeat to you the only way for salt to lose its saltiness is to pack it with impurities.

In the same way, when impurities get in our lives, we can lose our saltiness. I'm just throwing out some examples. Compromise is a chemical that causes you to lose your saltiness. I'm just throw out some examples. Compromise is a chemical that causes you to lose your saltiness. You say, well, I don't understand that. First, let me explain to you what saltiness is. Saltiness is influence. Help me, Holy Spirit. I'm almost done. Saltiness is influence. And if you have compromise in your life, you lose your saltiness. You will not have positive influence when your life is full of compromise. No, there's some preachers now so full of compromise, you don't even believe what they say. Their influence has been diminished by the

impurity of compromise. They lost their saltiness. You want another one? Hypocrisy is the impurity that causes you to lose your saltiness. If there's no congruency between your words and your actions, that is the impurity that causes you to lose influence. If you say one thing, sing one thing, preach one thing, and live another, and people find out, you lose influence. That's how you lose your saltiness. You're good on the platform, but when I got near you, I saw you was nothing like the song you were singing. You was nothing like the sermon you was preaching. You're nothing like the person I met on Instagram. There's a lot of Instasham. There's a lot of people on Instashare y'all love and Lord Lord and celebrate but if you got close to them You would not want a life you want their following but you don't want their life

You want their following you don't want their life And I'm telling you when you are a hypocrite when there's no congruence between your words and your actions and people find out Are you a Christian? But this is the way you live They won't say nothing, but you lose influence. You lose your ability to be salty. Another impurity, indifference. When you just don't care. Don't care who the next president is.

Don't care if they rewrite marriage. Don't care if they make abortion legal again. Don't care. I don't give a darn. I don't care. Ain't it affecting my house? When you talk like that, you lose influence. Don't nobody going to have no influence for real with the Christian church when you don't care when you're full of indifference? I need to hurt some of you in this room. I need to hurt myself and I'm about to hurt you. This is love.

I'm about to hurt you. The biggest impurity, unrepentant sin. Not I'm struggling. I love this. And I'm a Christian at the same time. I need to help some of y'all who are younger than me. You should stop parading sin on social media. If you stumble into sin, man, keep that on the low.

Back in the days, they had this thing called good shame. Where I may make a mistake, but I'm not going to parade it with glory until God has done something with it. We need to stop parading sin. Listen to me. When you got the word Christian in your bio and you parade sin, people are watching you. You lose influence. You lose your saltiness. I'm in a squad, but you have rampant uncontrolled sin.

Not, watch, not I'm struggling and I'm trying to change. I love this. When you live this way, you lose your saltiness. When you lose your saltiness, you lose your influence. Now listen to Jesus. He says, if you lose your influence, you're of no value to me. This is not talking about your eternal security. You'll make it to heaven, but while you're down here, you're unusable. You'll make it to heaven. This is not talking about eternal security, but while you're down here, to me, you're unusable. And I want to say

something to y'all. For those of y'all who be compromising to try to win friends or try to get in some crowd or get in some circle, can I tell you a truth? Look right at me. I'm going to tell you a truth. I'll learn. If you try to compromise your Christian values to fit in somewhere, you'll be rejected by the church and rejected by that group. Both people will reject you. After a while, the group you compromise to be in, they're going to reject you anyway be in they're gonna reject you anyway they're gonna reject you anyway i got proof of that uh give me my verse luke uh where luke talked about the sermon on the mount give me my verse and luke give me my verse and luke salt is good but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? Next verse.

It is of no use either for the soil, the kingdom, or for the manua pile, the world. So he said, if you lose your saltiness, you're no good for the kingdom or for the world. You're just no good for the kingdom or for the world you're just no good that's why there's no wins in compromise you might as well stand watch this remember the last verse of the beatitudes because it's all connected you might as well be persecuted for righteousness sake so yeah i declare things as a black man we don't believe in abortion and i get persecuted for that but i'd rather be persecuted for righteousness sake than compromise to fit in with black people who don't like that because you're just going to reject me anyway okay y'all get a black man say that no the scripture tells us

about the sanctity of human life before i formed you in the womb he said to the prophet jeremiah i knew you they're not pulling the lever for people that promote abortion. But I'm black. See? And you compromise for other groups and you're going to be rejected by both. By the king and by the group. You're not good for the soil or the manure pile. So you might as well have convictions can i say something to you before i land the plane look right at me

do you know how you know you know how powerful salt is in the earth? I'll be looking at people that'll be screaming, like, we hate the church. We hate the church. We hate the church. Yeah, really? Let the rapture come and remove the church from the earth. You know what's going to happen?

The full force of evil is going to overwhelm the whole globe. That's what the Bible says is going to happen in Revelation. The rise of the Antichrist. After the rapture of the church, the Antichrist comes to power and then the world is dominated by an evil, seducing spirit. For as much as the world keeps persecuting the church, they need us in the earth.

The only thing holding back the full force of evil is the church of Jesus, the prayers of the saints, the values of Jesus, the vantage point of Jesus. We are the only thing stopping the whole earth from completely decaying. Come on, look at me. Pay attention.

Pay attention. Don't let the enemy lull you into a sleep while I'm talking to you. Pay attention. Because you're going to walk out of here still trying to be a black girl or a black man. No, you are the salt of the earth. And at some point in time, you need to embrace that identity. So it changes the way you walk into a room or hop on a Zoom. I was reading in my studies and came across a good example of this.

Y'all remember there was a city hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Two of them called Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 18 through 19. Two cities that was filled with sexual perversion. Watch this. I just came across this in my study. Watch this. Everybody watch.

You can go read it for yourself genesis 18 19 abraham has a has a abraham has a nephew in their name lot god says to the city because y'all love sexual perversion and sin men with men women with women y'all wilding out y'all having sex with animals y'all doing all kind of crazy you know what this is too much i'm about to kill i'm about to destroy both of these cities. Watch. Abraham cries out, Lord, would you really destroy the city with the righteous in there too? The salt is in there too. The Lord says, if I find 50 people, I'll save the city. They couldn't find 50. Abraham said, but Lord, Lord, Lord, but if you find 45, would you save the city? He said, if I find 45, I'll save the city. Couldn't find even 45. I'm not that sure. He said, if I find 45, I'll save the city. Couldn't find even 45.

I'm not that sure. He said, Lord, if you find 40, will you save the city? He said, yes, I'll save the city, but he couldn't find 40 and 30 and 20 and 20. Lord, if you find five righteous people for crying out, if there's five grains of salt there, would you save the city? No, I'll save the city. God said, if there's five grains of salt. Five righteous people, I'll spare the whole city. Watch this. But I ain't even find five. You better get Lot out of there quick. What time is my plane i can't remember all right as long as there's salt in the earth god will preserve decay so watch because abraham was

arguing for even five righteous people god would say i'll hold back judgment even for five grains of salt five of my people I hold back judgment I will I will keep myself from destroying two cities if I find just five good people five righteous people just five like a church can't preserve Atlanta 28 19 I could bring revival to a city if could just find one church that would pray and repent and cry out and stay on the wall and spread the gospel and multiply disciples and train up others. If I could just find one church that's serious, I might be able to bring revival to a city. But he couldn't even find five, Patricia. So Abraham went.

Read it for yourself. Genesis 18, 19. Got Lot out of there. Told him don't look back. Ran into the field. Don't look back. Genesis 19. God, once the last righteous person left, rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah.

Watch. He destroyed two cities because there was no righteous people left holding back decay. Now you think that's a fable. But in the Middle East, they have found these two cities because there was no righteous people left holding back decay now you think that's a fable but in the Middle East they have found these two cities excavation has found squares buried in the hills of mountains in the sands in the Middle East when they move back the sands they found two things cities and 98% pure sulfur these two cities in the middle east buried on the sulfur mound 98 pure where did that sulfur come from you just go google it forget the bible go google sulfur deposit buried cities middle east but

nobody the unbeliever don't know how all that sulfur got there genesis 19 and god rained down fire and brimstone and overthrew those cities with the sulfur that came from heaven. Amen. All right, let me finish because I already know that you got to take medicine and get to your restaurant. what's your identity salt and you're supposed to keep back what decay where what's your identity and what's your function where even on instagram

in the booth and target at your family reunion when somebody's gossiping in the church when they're trying to dishonor pastor on the zoom when I think they can preach better than me in the Zoom, I wouldn't have said that sentence. You want my job? You'll give it back to me in three months. See, this is so easy because you sit here and you listen, when the opportunity comes to keep back the k you shrink all right let's last three verses right so your your identity is salt. Your functionality is to keep back decay, to preserve the values of the kingdom. That would be enough for me, Pastor Kenny.

But Jesus didn't stop there. He says you have another identity too. Verse 14, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Keep going. Nor do people put a light under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to the whole house. Keep going. whole house keep going in the same way let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven i'm not going to spend a lot of time here but i just want to point out some things to you from the text go back to verse 14 you are the

light of the world everybody watch the fact that jesus says you are the light of the world. Everybody watch. The fact that Jesus says you are the light of the world, this is another emphatic pronoun in the Greek. You want to study scriptures in its context. This word you is plural in the Greek. And in plural, emphatic pronoun means you and you only are the light of the world. If Christians are the light of the world, then what is Jesus telling you about the world? The world is dark. It's the presupposition of the text.

I'm talking to students of the scriptures. It's the presupposition of the text. Jesus is already telling us the world is dark. I'm ending. It's spiritually dark. It's morally dark, ethically dark. jesus not is or is not there is darkness he says you are the light of the world i was really i'm staring at this text and I thought to myself, but Jesus called himself the light.

And the writer said, God, he is light. So I really have no light on my own. I'm only a reflector. I'm a moon. I gaze at Christ and then his light bounces off of me into the lives of other people.

He says, you are a city set on a hill. Cannot be kidding. That makes no sense to you because you drive down to some cities but in this time,

all cities were built on hills and when people lit their candles, you would see those cities in the distance. So any place anybody was in the dark, you would see cities from a distance. That is, if you are light, you cannot hide. That is, you can't have faith undercover.

If you really have faith, it's going to be seen. If you really have faith, it's going to be seen. You can't put it under a bow because if you really have faith, it's going to be seen. He says, you are the light of the world. You know what light is? Light

in the scriptures is synonymous for truth. It's synonymous for God's word. It's synonymous for Jesus. We are the light of the world. So wherever we go, we're supposed to radiate the person and the values of Christ. If I'm in the gym, I'm the light of the gym. If I'm in Walmart, I'm the light of Walmart. If I'm online, I'm the light online. If I'm in a Zoom, I'm the light of that Zoom. Wherever I am, I am the light. Light is about truth. It's about God. So you are the light of the world. You are the preservers of truth. You are the preservers of the values of the kingdom. When people see you, they should see Christ coming off of you. For some of you, you are the only Bible your family

members or friends are ever going to read. You are the light of the world is what he said. You can't put it under a bow. You can't hide. I'm done, Frank. You can't hide. He said you're the light of the world. The world is dark. Society is dark. Spiritually dark. Every place we go is dark. Let me show you what the world looks like.

Go black. Control room. This is what the world looks like. This is what the gym looks like. This is what your office looks like. Your job looks like. This is what it looks like. Every place you go in Atlanta,

in the country, in the world, this is what we're in we're in a spiritually dark world everywhere I noticed the light is only on one person right now it's on me watch this is what you look like when you walk into the gym but you don't see yourself like this this is what you look like when you go into the office but you don't see yourself like this. This is what you look like when you go into the office, but you don't see yourself like this. This is what you look like when you go into the job, but you don't see yourself like this. This is what you look like when you get around your unsafe family members, but you don't see yourself like this. This is what you look like when you're in Walmart and Target

and the mall. This is what you look like on the highway. This is what you look like every place in the world. This is what you look like. You are the light of every sphere of influence. But if you don't understand your identity, you walk into the room looking like this. You just as dark as the world, so we can't see Christ coming off of you.

But when you understand your identity, you understand that every place you walk into, you walk in like this. You go to school like this. You're on your college campus like this. You're in the meetings like this. You're in Zoom like this. You're on Instagram like this. You're in VSCO like this. You're in your job. This is what you look like every place you go. The light that's beaming off of me is not my own virtue. It is the reflection of Christ beaming off of me. His words coming out of my mouth, his love coming out of my heart, his ways coming out of my life.

This is your identity in the world. And if you don't walk like this, what hope does the world have? At your family reunion, this is what you look like. And because you don't know your darn identity, it's why you keep navigating out here. So you don't have no confidence in your swag and you don't walk with no authority and you don't talk like you got the truth and you get backed down by people who arguing about the bible is incorrect because of something they read on google

you are jesus said the light of the world a city set on a hill somebody somebody walk in that back door, it cannot be hidden. Only your own compromise, your own fear, you being a coward in the times we live in, it would keep you from being hidden. That's the only thing that will put a bowl over you, your compromise, your fear. You're so terrified of standing for Christ everyone in the room can see me and me only because I'm the light right now in the room this is what the scripture said about Jesus that upon them a light has dawned he is the light of the whole world everything outside of this circle dark everything outside of

Jesus dark every religion every belief every crystal every fortune teller everything outside of christ and the word of god dark every teaching of every false prophet dark every teaching disconnected from the scriptures dark every church where jesus is not glorified and satan is on the platform dark every conference where god does not be exalted dark even people who are moral and apart from jesus they live in darkness you're the only light some of them may see look at me.

You see this light beaming off of me? This is your identity. Are you salty? Are you salty? Are you lit? You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. There's nobody else coming behind you. It's the church of Jesus and the church of Jesus only we are the only lights in the world and if you don't see yourself

like this you won't know how to govern yourself outside these doors you won't know how to govern yourself on social media this is your identity you are salt and you are light this is your identity and the only decision you have to make in this moment is whether or not you're going to embrace that or you're going to reject it.

This is me in my home. This is me with my children. This is what I'm trying to be with my wife. This is what I am when I go in the gym. This is what I am when I go in the gym. This is what I am when I hop in a Zoom. This is what I am when I'm going through Atlanta. This is what I am when I'm in a restaurant. This is what I am when I'm talking to a servant who I don't treat like a slave at a restaurant.

That I ask them their name and I leave them a 20% tip. This is what I am on social media what are you using yours for be salty and shine a light on them you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Bow your heads. Let's pray. We're living in the last days, my brothers and sisters.

I'm going to stay right here with the room in the dark and the light on me. We're living in the last days. We're living in the last days, brothers and sisters. it is Jesus and Jesus only that makes the darkness tremble at what point in time do you stop playing around and you take up the mantle of your identity as salt and light? How many years are you going to go to church before you figure out who you really are and walk in it? Like how many services is it going to take? How many conferences is it going to take? How many books is it going to take? How many podcasts is it going to take? Like some of y'all,

you've been in church your whole life. At what point in time does it click that you are salt and you are light? How many times are you going to read this text and not walk in your identity? This is the identity that Jesus gave you. I ain't playing around with you this morning. This is your identity. I'm trying to

preach you into your identity that you may have great impact and influence. So eternal God and ever wise Father, I cry out now for my brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. I pray that in this very moment, God, there would be a spirit of repentance fall on this house, fall on everyone watching me across this camera. I pray, God, that we would sit down and lay down and push off, God, Lord, the altars of our hearts, all these other false identities.

That we would take up the mantle of what you call us to be salt, and that we would fight for the preservation of the values of the kingdom light, that we would fight for the preservation of the values of the kingdom. Light. That we would radiate the character of Christ every place we are.

We would dominate that space for the glory of your kingdom. That's what you said. That men would see our light and glorify you who are in heaven. That's our good character. Enough with doing church and living any way we want. God, I pray in this moment, there will be a pivotal shift in the hearts and the minds of your children. I pray we would leave out of this dark room emboldened to be salt and to be light.

This is the identity you have given us in the kingdom. If it comes at the cost of persecution, we'll take it. If it comes at the cost of being unpopular, we'll take it. If it comes at the cost of being unpopular, we'll take it. If it comes at the cost of never being famous, we'll take it. And if we're going to be influencers, we want to be influencers for the kingdom

first. I pray this over your sons and daughters in Christ's name. And now to you, my brother and my sister, you're sitting in the room. You don't belong to Jesus. You've done church,

but you haven't done relationship. The Lord is calling you into the kingdom. He's calling you out of the darkness of the world. You've been living in darkness your whole life. You've done marriage in darkness, business in darkness You've been living in darkness your whole life. You've done marriage in darkness,

business in darkness. You're posting in darkness. If you die in darkness, you're going to be separated from God for all eternity. You're going to die. You're going to be separated from God for all eternity.

You ain't ready to pay for that. There's no second chance. There's no getting out. The Lord died to give you life that more abundantly and to help you live a life of purpose and meaning in the kingdom. He's calling you right now to surrender. He already knew you would be here.

It ain't about no magical prayer. It's about what he's already done in you before the foundation of the world. I'm talking to you, my brother and my sister. God is calling you out of the darkness into this light that I'm standing on right now. I want to pray for you. This is your moment to surrender your life to Christ and not be religious, to just say, Lord, forgive me for my sin.

I surrender. I put my faith in you. I walked in here in darkness. I'm going to walk out in the light. If I'm talking to you, I want to pray for you. I want to pray for you. I want to bring you out of darkness into the kingdom of light.

And because no one can't see you and I can barely see in the room, I'm going to ask you to do something bold so I know who I'm praying for. And you already know who you are. You feel it. You're saying, preacher, pray for me. If I'm talking to you on the count of three, I just want you to stand to your feet so I can see you in the dark. Nobody else can see you.

And I'm going to pray for you. I want you to acknowledge before the Lord. I want my sins forgiven. I'm not going to hell for nobody. I'm about to come out of darkness into the light. Today's the beginning of the rest of my life. I'm talking to you. One, Jesus is calling you. Two, it is the day of Stand to your feet, boldly. All right. I see couples hugging. All right, just stay on your feet. I'm going to try to get a count in the darkness.

One, two, three, four. Stay on your feet. Five, six, seven, eight. stay on your feet nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fourteen fourteen fourteen fourteen fourteen fourteen I want to do something different. If you're on your feet, would you just meet me down here? Come out of the dark and come to the light. Just come out of that dark and come to the light. You make the darkness tremble. Come on, come out of that darkness.

Come towards the light. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, you make the darkness tremble. Celebrate them, Lord. Celebrate them. Come on. Come out of the darkness. Come to the light. Come on, celebrate them.

Somebody sing, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. You make the darkness tremble. You silence fear. Sing Jesus, Jesus. You make the darkness tremble. Silence fear. everybody at the altar just bow your heads

he's catching those tears my sister he's catching those tears my sister he's catching those tears my sister he's catching those tears he respects the fact you took your hat off brother but you didn't have to it's all good right here at this altar you're close to the light now just in your own heart in your own heart as you're standing close to the light not a man but jesus come on don't look

around you're standing as close to the light as you've ever been. Just in your heart or with your own mouth, just tell the Lord you're sorry for all your sin. Just confess. Tell him you're sorry for all your sin. Tell him you surrender your life to him right now. He's listening to your voice and your heart. Just surrender.

He's catching those tears. Just surrender. Just say, Lord, I surrender. I surrender. Just say, Lord, I surrender. I surrender. I surrender. You're close to the light now. I surrender. That's all right, my sister. Not one of those tears are going to fall to the floor. You're close to the light now. In fact, you're coming out of darkness into the the light you're coming out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light father i pray over these your new sons and daughters those who have made a a decision just to put their faith in you. It was really what you had done in them before the foundation of the world.

This was already sealed before they got here. This is just a public acknowledgement of what you was already working by your sovereign grace. So I pray according to the scriptures that you fill them with your Holy Spirit. Sealing them until the day of salvation. I pray God they will be sensitive to your voice from this day forward. I pray they will be lovers, God, of the beatitudes. They would radiate the grace of the beatitudes.

I pray they would hear your voice and be sensitive to your presence. I pray, God, they will be lovers of the kingdom and lovers of your word. I pray you would deliver them from all manner of vices chain and bondages I pray some sick body at this altar will be healed right now in this moment I pray some womb will be open and some couple would hold a baby in their hand by this time next year I pray every tear that has fallen from

this altar you would catch it Lord and you will whisper to them that all their sins are forgiven that they are now your sons and daughters they belong to you and father you said in your word when one sinner repents all of heaven rejoices so father we were choice right now with our new brothers and sisters we were choice right now with our new brothers and sisters. We rejoice right now with our new brothers and sisters. We celebrate our new brothers and sisters in the name of Jesus.