For our scripture reading this evening, I would invite you to turn with me to the gospel of Mark chapter 9. Picking up where we left off from the last time. Verses 49 through 50, so the last two verses of Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter nine, beginning in verse 49. Hear the word of God. For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves. and have peace with one another. So far our reading of the word of God, the holy, inspired, infallible, inerrant, authoritative word of God, and may he ask his blessing to the preaching thereof. Well, congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, this morning we were asked a rather probing question. The question had to do with the two events that God has brought before us as a congregation, a providence which is certainly most wise and always most beneficial for his people. And the question, or at least these two events, was the death of our brother and an elder, who was a sitting elder at the time, Doug Schertzma, And, as we heard this morning, the excommunication of a child of this congregation, Nolan Vanderwaal. And so these two are held before us and we were asked which of these two events is more grievous to you. Now this question was meant to cause us to reflect upon the gravity of these situations that are before us and it was not with the intention to make us settle upon one or the other. As it has come up in conversations after the service, it is, I think, a good idea to clarify some things about it, is that both of these things are grievous regardless, and grievous in their own way. One is grievous because it dealt with the physical death of a brother, an unexpected one. and a tragic one, but a physical death there is having to do with the bitter and the final enemy that, barring the return of the Lord, we all must face. Death is certainly defeated, but it is still an enemy. It's a defeated enemy, but it is an enemy. And then the other one had to do with the root of physical death. The root of physical death, which came about as a consequence of our spiritual death. our fall into sin in Adam and the alienation that came about from that, an alienation from God, which is eternal death and spiritual death. And so we are surrounded on many sides by this grief and this pain and we grieve and that is certainly an appropriate response to the reality that's before us, but we grieve in different ways and for different reasons because they're different events. The one thing that should have been mentioned, both of these are a grief and a sorrow, but neither of these are griefs without a hope. I admit that due to the weaknesses and the limitations of my own flesh, that element of hope It did come out a bit, but it was not given its due emphasis this morning, and it should have been emphasized more. This is a day of rest after all, a day where we can worship our God. It is a day where it is given to us as a feast day for the soul, as the old reformers used to call it, where our souls can be fattened up, as it were, by the grace and mercy of God, with the peace of God that is declared to us in the word of God, and that with joy and worship and gladness in the Lord, to the praise of his grace toward chief of sinners. That's what this day is for. And so, at the end of this Lord's Day, we'll turn our attention to that hopeful element tonight. We do so through the lens of Mark chapter nine, in these two verses, verse 49 through 50. Yet, we'll say that there will be a little more patience required of us because our Lord is speaking about fire. So there is an element of hardship and trial that's involved here, but the hopeful part about it is that trials, these grievous things that come about, like the events that are before us, season us. They put salt in us. And so we have the title for tonight, Scorched and Salted. Scorched and Salted. First, seasoned by fire. We'll consider that first verse, that first part. And secondly, salty Christians are having salt in us and what exactly this means and what it looks like. First, we consider seasoned by fire, and we take note of the fact that the verses that are right before ours, these last two verses at the end of chapter nine, they did speak of a fire that will not be quenched. A fire that also has a worm which does not die, a constant gnawing, as it were. And this fire is one that is reserved for those who persist in the foolishness and in the folly of refusing to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what we had read there in those previous verses, verses 42 through 48, that was speaking of the fires of condemnation. And that is reserved for the fool, for the one who does not hate sin and mortify it in a life of repentance and faith in Christ. Now as we move into verses 49 and 50, there is a different kind of fire that our Lord Jesus Christ now is speaking of as it applies to those who are his followers, who are his disciples and endeavor to follow after him. as closely as they can and as the Spirit enables them to do. And so, for those who have had the grace of the Holy Spirit, apply their hearts to wisdom, as it were, and therefore, do repent and do believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The thing that is granted to these disciples is also fire. Although this is not the fire of condemnation, these are what might be better described as the fires of purification. But it is a fire nonetheless. Fire burns, fire hurts, but fire refines, fire purifies. Now what Jesus is referring to here is the tabernacle and the temple sacrifices which were in the Old Testament. And these sacrifices, fire and salt, they both played a very vital part in the sacrifices. The burnt offerings, they were required to be placed upon the altar and burnt to a crisp as it were. They were to be wholly consumed by the fire and everything burnt up. And then we could read of this in Leviticus 1 and 2, but three times in the first chapter of Leviticus, we read about the smoke from that fire, consuming that sacrifice, rising up as a sweet aroma to God. It is one that is well-pleasing to him. It delights him. And then we go on in Leviticus chapter 2 and in verse 13, we read that all offerings shall be offered with salt. And so that happens with all of them. And in fact, it's not only just called salt, but it's also called the salt of the covenant. The salt of the covenant, and so it's helpful for us to know what this salt is and what it does. Salt is something that not only makes the foods that we eat more flavorful and savory, a nice, pleasing aroma, as it were, but they also served as a preservative. for foods and many other edible goods, and that's because they didn't have refrigerators back then. That's how we preserve our foods, refrigerators and freezers, but they had salt. And it's the salt of the covenant. And so that life of covenantal fellowship between God and His sinful people is in order for that to be established, because His people are sinful, is something that must be established by sacrifice. And it is also then preserved by sacrifice. Now, it wasn't just the sacrifices themselves there in the Old Testament there, but over and over and over again, but every one of those pointed to the ultimate and the true sacrifice, one that truly indeed established for all eternity covenant fellowship with his sinful people, the one that truly maintains and preserves that covenant between God and his people, and that is our covenant mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who stands between us. He was the Lamb of God, who was slain from before the foundation of the world and slain once for all. It is Christ in him crucified. And that is the sweet smelling aroma unto God that is pleasing unto him of such great delight. And now we have then a believer, a member of this covenant, who by faith in the covenant mediator has received this true sacrifice. has put his trust by the grace of the Spirit in the sacrifice of Christ and therefore has received all those eternal benefits that have been purchased by that sacrifice in the shedding of his own blood. The benefits of the forgiveness of sin. Benefits of covenantal fellowship and communion with God and with fellow believers. Benefits of life eternal before his throne and before his presence. And all of these things are granted and given by the Lord Jesus Christ through the instrument of faith. All of it, even that faith, is a gift of grace. It's all of grace. And so the Apostle Paul, in Romans 12, he lays hold of these mercies of God, as it were, he lays hold of them as it were, these mercies of God in Christ as the ground or as the foundation upon which he then beseeches us, earnestly pleads with us to present our bodies, our lives, a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable to God, pleasing to Him. Sacrifices are burned, are they not? And this really is echoing what Jesus had said in Mark 8 verse 34 when he said whoever desires to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore what is inherent in following Christ Since the Son of Man has come and he must suffer and die, there are certain sacrifices that are inherent in our following Christ. Sacrifice that, in many ways, is painful. It's a trial. It's a tribulation. It's not, however, because of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not just a painful thing to bear and to grate your teeth through. It is rather an offering to God. to go through these fires, an offering that is done out of gratitude. So it's a thank offering unto God for His grace, for the grace of bringing us into covenantal fellowship with the Lamb and in the Lamb, and therefore, for the Lamb's sake, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, they are a sweet-smelling aroma unto Him. They are pleasing to God. They're acceptable to Him for Christ's sake. What a wonderful joy that is and a motivation indeed that would be for us to go forward in this life, however hard and difficult it may be, that if we go forth in true faith in Christ and in the strength of his might and in accordance and conformity with his will, out of gratitude for him and the grace that he has given. God delights in that. It is well pleasing to Him, for it is washed, it's sanctified in the blood of Christ. Now, but these symbols are fire and salt. They are symbols that are used to speak of the trials and the costs of discipleship. And these things, this discipleship, the trials, the costs, everything of it, as Paul said, to render ourselves a living sacrifice, it is something that must consume, like the flames upon the altar, it must consume the totality of our lives. Everything. Not one moment of our life. Not taken up. Not one area or sphere in which we are engaged. It's not taken up. And so in the immediate context of this verse, it means that this fire includes, and I want to highlight two things here. The fires of cutting off and of plucking out our sinful members. both privately in our own lives and corporately, what we witnessed this morning. So that certainly, that is a trial and a difficulty that is endured and is endured in gratitude and with the trust and the hope and the knowledge that this is done for a good and holy purpose for the purification. And the other thing to highlight is that this also applies to all trials, all difficulties, all things that we as individual believers and we together endure in this life. But concerning first the cutting off and the plucking out of our sinful members, we witnessed a bit of this this morning. And this was the excision, the excision that we had attempted to deal with this morning and expound upon. Just to remind you, excision is this precise term that could be defined as the surgical act of removing something from the body. Something that is gotta go. And so for example, think of An unpleasant thing that needs and requires medical attention. One of the more unpleasant things that you could think of is this thing called gangrene. Gangrene. is an infection. It's when, and it's a serious problem, it's when the cells and the tissues within a certain area of the body, particularly the very ends of the body, because the blood flow isn't as good there, but those cells and tissues of a part of the body literally die. They die. Your body starts to rot and decompose while you are still alive. And it spreads rapidly. It's something that must be dealt with ASAP, as soon as possible, because if it goes on untreated, it's fatal. It's fatal. And depending on how severe it is, it doesn't take long. Now thankfully today, gangrene is something that can be dealt with by antibiotics or rather strong ones, but there are still times where it's so severe or it has spread to the point where it is necessary to perform an excision, an amputation. The most common place you might see it is just below the knee or just above it. And so imagine you are in a hospital bed and a surgeon comes to you and says, well, when you wake up, you're not going to have a leg anymore. You might ask, why? Why are you removing my leg?" And well, hopefully, your doctor may be able to explain precisely what it is that he's going to do and why he's going to do it. And he would say, well, because it's infected with gangrene, and there's nothing else that we can do, this is what we must do. Because if we don't amputate, if we don't excise that infected body part, you will die. And so we must do this to save you, to save your life. And I imagine it would still be difficult, a difficult and painful reality to wake up to. A certain trial, a certain fire. But it's something that is necessary. Because gangrene spreads and it kills and you know what else does that? Sin does that. And sin is the worst form of it all because really the foundational, the spring from which gangrene is found, its origin is sin. It's part of the curse. That sin is the worst of them all, and sin kills, sin spreads, and if it's left unchecked, and if it's left untreated, if it's not sacrificed and mortified through the cross of Christ, manifested in that sin, being plucked out and being cut off, that sin dying in our life, it will destroy you. And it will be the place where the worm does not die and where the fire is not quenched. It's not something that just goes away by itself. Extreme measures must be taken because if it's not, it will work its own work and it will spread and it will influence the mind, it will influence the will, it will influence the love and the desires of the heart and the affections and it will grow and it will spread and it will dam. Think of it this way, when the antibiotics, metaphorically speaking, of the scriptural admonishments that come by way of conversation, personal devotions from the pulpit, what have you, if they do not bring a remedy to this spiritual gangrene, then what the Bible calls for the church to do is to prepare for the spiritual procedure of accession. And that is a trial and a fire for the church to undergo. But it is one that is necessary because it will do its spreading work amongst a corporate body. It will spread to destroy not only individuals, but families, friendships, relationships, congregations. federations, denominations. It will destroy. It's in its nature to destroy. And so immorality of all degrees and of all sorts and all of our hearts must be cut out and must be thrown out through mortification, through the cross, through that fire that purifies. And if it is not It must be dealt with by way of excommunication. Formal church discipline, and that is what we had witnessed this morning. The purification, as it were. And so it's not so much of a question whether we had wanted, because we were eager, to make an announcement. and to do this, that, and the other thing, whether we wanted to do this surgical procedure, spiritually speaking, it's a question of whether or not we must, or we ought to. whether or not we will, if we corporately will take up our cross, if we will endure this fiery trial which Christ has instituted, and by fiery trial, it doesn't mean it is a matter of hardship and a difficulty for a congregation, but it is something and a means that Christ has instituted for the good of both the congregation and the individual. And so it is one, as we can put it in the terms of verse 49, it is one that through this fire, we are seasoned, we are salted. We are purified. just as salt preserves. And we have an example of this that's given to us in 1 Corinthians 5, and I would ask you to turn there with me. You'll see many elements of these things which we have heard already this evening in this chapter, but 1 Corinthians 5. I'll highlight just one verse there, but just pointing out a couple of things that mentioned that this circumstance in 1 Corinthians 5 is dealing with the immorality, the leaven, the gangrene of sexual immorality that they really weren't shy about and they were prideful and boastful in. And mention also the putting out, the taking away from among you, that's the excising that it's speaking of. Then notice also verse four, the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ has given to the church in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the excision, deliver such a one, in verse five. deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. And so we see that this is something that is meant for his benefit, this individual's benefit in 1 Corinthians 5 as it was this morning. Well, the benefit to taste it, experience of the fruit of what has been sown, to reap what has been sown. So it's not only for the purification of the congregation to prevent the spreading of these things, but also of the one who is excised, the one who has gone through this. And that's particularly what we see in verse five. so that the sinful desires may be destroyed and that they may be brought to repentance. The old reformers used to call this a final remedy, a remedy. the desire that someday, perhaps soon, maybe later, the individual might come to their spiritual senses, as it were. In many ways, it's illustrated by the prodigal son, where the son goes away from the father's house and he's cut off from all the experience of the fellowship and the enjoyment of his father's house, including the food and the comforts that were there, and he has chosen a certain way of life that has put him within the pig pen of despair and misery. But it is exactly there, in that pig pen, that he comes to his senses, he comes to his right mind. Now imagine if the father instead had followed his son around and always babied him and coddled him and provided for him and enabled this riotous living that he was in. The son would have never come to the awareness of what he was doing. But sometimes there is in the pig pen of reaping what a person has sown. God is providentially pleased to awaken the soul and bring a person to their right spiritual sense. So it is a trial. It is a difficulty. But the intent is not malicious. It's not to harm. It's not to harm you as a congregation. It's not meant to harm the family who has to watch their son through this. It's not even meant to harm the one going through it. It is meant to be a remedy. To purify. To be a sweet smelling aroma to our God. Through faith and repentance. And this is true in the life of dealing radically with sin, the life that we lead, and the struggles of warfare, the spiritual warfare that we endure, and it is true for all trials that befall the people of God. You think of first Peter. Verse six and seven, 1 Peter 1, verse six and seven. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. The genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Or you think of James, chapter one, verse two through four. My brethren, count it all joy When you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. That didn't convince you? How about Romans 5, verse 3 and 4? Which says not only that, but we glory also in tribulations. knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope in the fact that he himself has endured the fire of God's wrath in the fullest extent. And that whatever trial and whatever fire it is that we go through, as difficult and as painful as it may be, we are not enduring that fire. We will never. We will never. He has endured that for us. And so it is through these trials, through these things that the Lord uses as a kind of instrument to refine us, to deal away with the impurities that still remain within us as we still walk in this fallen world as sinners and struggle with the old man. And it is so that the peaceable fruits of righteousness may come out and may be displayed and shine out the glories of our Lord Jesus Christ and gratitude to him as we give ourselves as a living sacrifice unto God. Trials have a way of doing that. A way of exposing our weaknesses. They have a way of stirring up within us a great zeal and a great desire for the fellowship of the saints, for the glory of God and His praise and His worship. Brings us to our second point, the salty Christians. salty here in our context, at least in our day oftentimes, is something that means, well, you're kind of bitter and cynical here, but salt here is something that has still that meaning of being a preservative. And here we read of Christ saying that there must be salt in us. and to not lose that salty flavor. And so have salt within us. We are to be salty. We are to be those kinds of preservatives, so to speak, in this world. But we see the design that God has in these trials and the design of bringing us to a pure expression of the image of Christ shining out from us and through us. And that by the working of the spirit within us as we look to the word and as we walk and grow in these things. And at the same time, we realize, that the Lord gives these things to stir up these good fruits that we may be preserved by his hand. This difficulty, what I'm trying to say here is that these trials are means by which God preserves his people. even though it may seem as though it is working to destroy the church and destroy our spirits and destroy us and cause our eyes to be cast down upon him, but how it is by the Spirit of God that he works through these things that the people of God are more hopeful and more joyful in the Lord. It's truly the only thing that can happen by the working of the Holy Spirit. If you've ever gone through a trial or some kind of circumstance and you've come out the other end of it, or even in the midst of it, happier, more joyful, with stronger faith and love for the Lord Jesus Christ, It's because the Spirit of God has worked in your heart. Because He's gracious and He desires His people to be holy and to worship Him in the beauty of holiness. And to render ourselves a living sacrifice to Him that is acceptable, that's well-pleasing to Him. And nevertheless, it's one of those matters that, we'll move on here, this salt, this saltiness of Christians, and it brings up the question of what it is that God is doing. We think of the five points of Calvinism as it is summarized in that acronym, TULIP. What is it that is the teaching of that fifth point, the P? It was the preservation of the saints. And there's some discussion about it being, oh, well, is it actually perseverance of the saints? Or is it preservation? Well, the emphasis and the ultimate and the overarching and undergirding truth is that it is God's preservation of his people. That is the promise of the gospel. He who has begun a good work in you will complete it to the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. But in this preservation, he causes his people to persevere. Persevering Christians is how we know that they are being preserved, especially as these trials come. as these, the dross, the slag from the refining process is taken away that we have more of that salt of remaining and abiding within us. And so through the killing of sin, through the flames of trials and tribulations, there is a measure whereby the Lord preserves His people and puts that salt within us to endure. or with joy, but God also has us in this world for a specific purpose. There is a preserving influence that the people of God have upon the world around us, a godly influence. The influence of holiness that is in the midst of this fallen and in this corrupt world. And so it is important for us as believers who live here still in this fallen world and as we endure various trials and various things that we not be those characterized by the world. There must be the worldliness that has been burned off. has been purified out, and so we, if we go on being characterized by this world and patterned by this world, or as Romans 12 will put it, conformed to the pattern of this world, then what is it that others will see of another world? The world of that covenantal life, fellowship with God and Christ. A world where, for Christ's sake, people are pleasing and a delight to him and he to his people. A world that is filled with the glory of God and not the vain idols that we see around us. A world where, truly, God is all in all. And so have salt in yourself. Do you? The salt that desires to shine out the glories of our Lord, the purity and the beauty of holiness, endeavoring to kill sin in the strength of the Lord, going forward as though it is hard, but it's worth it. This preservation and this perseverance is most manifest in this last phrase, have peace with one another. This preservation is most manifest here and this distinguish us, distinguishes us from a world that is not at peace. It doesn't have, they don't have peace with themselves. Maybe in an outward way, but it will not last. Nor is it true. And they certainly do not have peace with God so long as they are outside the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the peace that we have with one another is a reflection of the peace that we have with God, the peace that we have received in Jesus Christ and in him crucified. The peace that preserves the loving bond, the fellowship with one another. Jesus himself, in the Gospel of John, chapter 13, verse 35, he says, by this all will know that you are my disciples. It says, Lord Jesus, if you have love for one another. So if we're wondering about the purification, the preservation by trials. Let's consider the events of the past couple weeks. Has not the trial that Bethany URC has endured recently, and not just this one, but the many trials over the years and over the decades, but has it not stirred up within us more earnest love for one another, a deep care, a deep concern for the spiritual well-being of our brothers and our sisters in the Lord, with a desire and a zeal that we together would continue to praise our God both in spirit and in truth, both in sincerity and in uprightness of heart. That we also then would praise our God with our lives as a living sacrifice unto him that is holy and that is acceptable. Has that not been stirred up through this? I think it has. It's because God is at work among us. God is at work among us in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace. Christ is ministering to his people. He walks with his people. He walks beside you. He guides you. By his trials, he reminds you where he's taking you. He's taking you to a place where there is joy inexpressible. He, by His Spirit, will grant the peace in our hearts by the Spirit to persevere, a peace that passes understanding, a peace that defies the difficulties and the heat of the circumstances. It's a joy that passes understanding. We know that the Lord, our God in Christ, is so good to us that he uses these things that do hurt, that do burn, for our benefit, that far outweighs the difficulty and the trial that we endure in this world. Amen. Let us pray. Gracious God and Father, we come before you once again in prayer to give to you thanks and to praise for your living and your active word, and how rich and full it is, and the comprehensiveness and practicality of the gospel. It is a testament to us of how much we need it. And so we thank you that you are the God who is all wise, and you know what we need, and is also gracious, and provides that for us. And so we ask that you would add grace upon grace, and apply such things to our heart, that may it be salt within us, that we would endure unto life eternal. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.