The Salty Church

In what we call The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matthew 5:13)

Christ continues in verses 14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

My friend, Dwain Miller, said regarding this passage:

“We have lost our seasoning (saltiness) by not embracing our calling and responsibility as the Ekklesia. When we do embrace it, we prevent corruption in society, even as salt prevents corruption when it is used to preserve food. Each of us has a sphere of authority given to us by God, in which we must release our influence as the Ekklesia: our families, cities, and other areas of responsibility. However, the world has come to a place where they expect the church to function only in the realm of empathy and sympathy. They become nervous when we step out into our responsibility as the Ekklesia of God. The devil does not like us moving into the secular realm with Christ’s authority. That’s when things get stirred up, kingdom clashes occur. 

“If we simply feed the hungry and clothe the poor, we are accepted. The church needs to be doing those things, yes, but we also need to take authority over the dark structures holding people in that bondage of poverty. We need to release them spiritually, to become everything God created them to be. When we do so, however, we stir up conflict in both the spiritual and earthly realms.” 

Shockingly, the Pharisees didn’t approve of Jesus healing people and delivering sinners. He healed a blind man in John 9; they didn’t like it. He forgave a lady of adultery in John 8; they didn’t like this either. The disciples, now apostles, healed a lame man in Acts 3, which also drew their ire. Why would these kind, compassionate acts upset the antichrist crowd? Because the authority they moved in verified a message they didn’t like and caused the hearts of people to turn to Christ. It weakened them and strengthened the church. 

It will be no different today. When the Ekklesia fully moves into society, saving the lost, healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons, we’ll be persecuted by the religious and political. When we release kingdom strategies for systemic societal problems, we have been and will be attacked. We must prepare ourselves now for the confrontations we will face with the religious and political spirits operating in our time.

When the Pharisees and Sadducees had seen to it that Jesus was crucified, they thought they had rid themselves of their problems. The people had been following Jesus and causing them no end of troubles. We can imagine the religious leaders brushing their hands together after Christ was sealed in the tomb, saying to one another, “Well, thank goodness that’s over!” 

It was far from over.

In Acts 2, the outpouring of Holy Spirit occurred. In Acts 3, the new apostles were filled with power and glory. They had a holy boldness deposited in them by the Spirit of God, and were unstoppable! They knew they might be, and likely would be, jailed and beaten for telling others about Jesus. But they did it anyway, 

preaching an uncompromising message refusing to water it down, unafraid of who would be listening. 

The disciples began working miracles and preaching boldly. Acts 4:13 says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Dwain Miller said of this, “The apostles were not illiterate, but they were not rabbis, schooled in the Torah. However, the rabbis listening to them were having to acknowledge these common people who, having been with Jesus, were carrying out the exact same manifestation of the Kingdom He had demonstrated. They didn’t have an explanation for that.” 

Dwain continues, “The religious leaders had told the people for hundreds of years, ‘You have to come to us to know God.’ They had control over the people having actually developed an antiChrist system in order to maintain control. They operated in power and wickedness. Now, their problem was exacerbated. There was not just one Jesus to deal with. There were increasing numbers carrying Christ within them and being baptized in the Holy Ghost. They were speaking a clear scriptural message and performing miracles. And the church was multiplying.

“In Acts 5:12, it says, ‘And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.’

The response of the Pharisees and Sadducees to all this was to throw the apostles in prison. But the Lord sent an angel in the night to open the prison doors and delivered them. Nothing could stop them, because God was with them. 

The religious, political spirit wanted to shut the Christians up and shut them down. But those empowered by demonic spirits discovered a greater power was with the Christ-followers. And it could not be stopped.This is where the Lord has brought the Ekklesia today. We are in an Acts 4 and 5 season; we can see the anointing and authority growing in us. Holy Spirit is restoring our saltiness, our seasoning ability. The world is going to know once again that a people have been with Jesus. 

Christ is looking forward to the sound of the clashing of kingdoms, because it means we are advancing His kingdom in the earth. A wise Pharisee named Gamaliel said in Acts 5:38-39 (NKJV), “And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.” 

We want God’s power and glory to so manifest through us that the world and religious community won’t know what to do with us. Let it be said of us, “What should we do with these men? We can’t deny that they have performed miraculous signs, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it” (Acts 4:16; NLT).

Pray with me:

Father, You are “leavening” Your Ekklesia, causing Your power and glory to rise within us. We are not discouraged by what is happening around us, with society’s spiritual demise. Yes, we grieve, but we are not discouraged. We see what we need to see. You have increased our revelation and we know You are filling us with the fullness of Your authority, grace, and strength for this era.

Lord, we thank You that the rising Ekklesia is maturing in greater and greater authority. We purpose to function with maturity in all You have created us to do. We loose this powerful identity shift on all those in the Church who will receive it. We will no longer allow the enemy to define us or our boundaries. We will do all You have called us to do. We’ll do it in love because that is Your nature, but we will do it. We know the purpose You have sent us forth to complete and we will do this. You will be glorified and made manifest through the activities of Your Ekklesia.

We pray that the Ekklesia (the church) will go forth in dunamis power. We have been given the keys to all You have in heaven. We will use Your keys and declare, “Kingdom of God, Come! Will of God, be done in and through us.” We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today’s decree:

God has and is gracing the Ekklesia in America to be a determined force, expanding His Kingdom in every dark place!