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But first, let me share with you a few things about our wonderful, natural salt. At one time it was called white gold, maybe it still is.

Salt is a mineral that is found both in solid and liquid form. The liquid is called brine. Salt contains two elements, chlorine and sodium, so it is known chemically as sodium chloride.

There are several different places from where salt comes; such as, the sea, mines and wells.

There is a little more than 1/4 pound of salt in each gallon of sea water. It has been estimated that if all the oceans dried up, it would leave 4,419,300 cubic miles of rock salt. That would be enough to cover all the United States, except Alaska and Hawaii, with a layer of salt more than 1½ miles deep.

Salt was first taken from the sea by scooping out shallow holes along the seashore. Waves breaking along the shore filled the holes with brine. The sun and wind caused the water in the brine to evaporate, leaving behind the crude salt. This process was known as the solar method. The solar method is still used. But to speed the process of evaporation, the brine is put in enormous iron pans, placed over extremely hot fires. (Keep in mind hot fires).

This salt is found beneath the ground in almost every part of the world. Sometimes the salt lies near the surface or even above it. However most salt veins lie far beneath the earth's surface and the salt must be mined in much the same way that coal is mined. The salt is taken by elevators to the top of a tippler — a building that may be 8 stories high. On its way through the building it goes through crushers, passes over screens that separate the crystals in sizes and is put in sacks. It is then shipped to the consumers.

Much of the salt produced in the United States comes from salt wells. The salt is dissolved by water and pumped to the surface. A salt well is drilled in much the same way that a water or oil well is drilled. When a vein of salt lies very deep, air pressure forces the brine to the surface. The brine is refined in about the same manner as sea salt, and in extremely hot fires. (Here we have hot fires again, plus water.) The U.S. produces over 44 million short tons (40 million metric tons) of salt each year.

At one time salt was used as money. People were paid in salt. The salt money was called Salarium. We even had some salt wars. One was the Magoffin salt war in 1854 and the other was the El Paso salt war from 1860 to 1870. Very interesting.

So now let us look at salt and what it is good for. We think salt is very common, but yet it is a priceless invaluable mineral. It is used for the health of the people all over the world. It has been estimated that there are more than 14,000 uses for salt. There are too many, of course, to name them all, but here are a few.

First, salt is a preservative. In the old days the people always used it to keep their food from spoiling, and we still use it now.

The amazing healing powers of Salt Crystals! Since ancient times, salt has been used as a beauty treatment, antiseptic and medicine. And though salt has been given a bad rap lately, research shows that these pure and unrefined mineral crystals — mined from the world's deepest caves and oldest seabeds — are brimming with healing powers!

Sea Salt — it softens skin! When used as a body scrub, it can remove dead skin cells and improve circulation, leaving skin softer and removing trapped dirt and toxins. Salt cure: make a salt scrub by combining 1 cup salt with 1 cup almond or olive oil. Gently rub onto your skin before a shower, scrubbing just hard enough to remove dead skin without irritation. Rinse with warm water, then follow with a moisturizer.

Himalayan Pink Salt — improves breathing and energy! This salt emits unique ions that purify the air, neutralizing environmental pollutants to help prevent allergies, and asthma, it boosts energy, well-being, and resistance to illnesses! Place a Himalayan salt candle holder or candle on your desk or in your bedroom, heat releases the soothing particles.

Hawaiian Red Salt — boosts energy! The latest studies prove this distinctive-looking salt is rich in healthy minerals and nutrients, including bone-strengthening calcium and energizing iron. This salt comes from the rich volcanic soil. Early Hawaiians considered the salt from their rich volcanic soil sacred. This salt is milder tasting than table salt and gives their famous meat dishes, like Kalua Pork, a mellow, earthy flavor.

Celtic Sea Salt — beats bloating, blood sugar woes, and more. Unlike regular table salt, 99% pure unrefined Celtic sea salt (which is gray in color) contains more than 80 trace minerals needed for optimal health and hydration! Celtic sea salt minimizes water retention, helps build the immune system, boosts energy and helps balance blood sugar.

Dead Sea Salt — zaps aches and eczema. The salt in this landlocked body of water has the highest concentration of therapeutic, anti-inflammatory minerals on earth, including calcium, potassium and silicon. Dead Sea salt reduces wrinkles and helps heal chronic skin woes like eczema and psoriasis. The water in the Dead Sea is 27% salt, compared to 4% in average seawater. In fact, the salt in this sea is so dense, you can’t help but float! At the southeast end is a ridge of rock salt, three hundred feet high, it runs for five miles, and the bed of the sea appears to be covered with salt crystals.

Epson Salts — eases stress and turns the clock back! Looking for a Fountain of Youth elixir? Look no further than your drugstore’s supply of Epsom salts. Added to a bath, the salts unique combination of calming magnesium and anti-inflammatory sulfates quickly absorbs into your bloodstream, relaxing your nervous system helping to regulate more than 300 enzymes, and releasing trapped fats and chemicals linked to everything from weight gain to fatigue. Simply bathing in Epson salts is shown to raise blood levels of magnesium 40 percent! Studies even suggest it helps relieve symptoms of ADHD!

Yes, and then there is our body. We know that salt is essential to our health. Our body cells must have salt in order to live and work. The human body contains many salts, of which sodium chloride (common table salt) is the major one, making up around 0.4 percent of the body's weight at a concentration pretty well equivalent to that in seawater. So a 50kg/110lb person would contain around 200 grams or 7 ounces of sodium chloride, which is 40 teaspoons. Since we lose salt whenever we sweat, it has to be continually replaced. Blood, sweat and tears are salty. Salt makes up 0.9 percent of the blood and body cells.

Now the Salt Covenant:

And in 2nd Samuel 7:8-17 we find the Davidic Salt Covenant. This covenant upon which the glorious kingdom of God "of the seed of David according to the flesh" is to be founded secures:

(1) A Davidic house posterity, family.

(2) A throne, royal authority.

(3) A kingdom, sphere of rule.

(4) In perpetuity, forever.

(5) A New Covenant and the Lord God will yet give to that thorn-crowned One the throne of his father David. "And, behold ,thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS, HE shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1:31-33.

And then the salt of the sacrifice is called "the salt of the covenant of thy God," because in common life salt was the symbol of covenant. Remember a symbol is not the reality, it points to something. The meaning appears to have been that the salt, with its power to strengthen food and preserve (keep) it from putrefaction (decay) and corruption (wicked perversion) symbolizes the unbending truthfulness of that self-surrender to the Lord embodied in sacrifice, by which all impurities and hypocrisies were repelled, by a force that keeps or drives something away.

Self-surrender, sacrifice, draws our attention to Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present (self-surrender) your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

The word covenant means a solemn agreement between two or more persons, a legal contract, the law in the Bible, the solemn promises of God to men as set forth in the Old and New Testament. "He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac: And confirmed the same onto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting (salt) covenant." Ps. 105:8-10. So this covenant, an agreement with God, cannot be annulled. It stands forever.

God used plain natural salt as a symbol in the olden days to let us see what power even then the salt had. It preserved (saved) anything that was salted with it.

And then we find a different salt in the New Testament –YOU/US.

Jesus said: "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and be trodden under foot of men. Matt.5:13.

Remember our body has approximately 200 grams of sodium chloride; that is, about 40 teaspoons of salt. But like the natural salt that has to be replaced in our body, so the salt that we are also needs to be replenished.

Then we read: "For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt has lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." Mark 9:49-50. And remember, the salt was refined with water and fire.

"Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned." Luke 14:34. Here we find that we are the spiritual salt of Christ. This salt together with the savor preserves us and gives flavor to the words that we speak.

It says here that you are – YOU ARE – the salt! This is emphatic! It is – period!

But then it says we can lose our savor, or saltness, and if it is lost, we are good for nothing. God cannot use us.

Now, let us look at our salt and see what it is good for. It is a seasoning, a spice, it makes everything taste better. Salt has a sharpness, it is full flavored, and helps us to assimilate food (the word of God) better.

Salt also has a religious significance (a sign) and is a symbol of purity. The pungency (sharpness) represents the truth of God, that which arrests (stops) the action of leaven. "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Gal. 5:9, 1Cor 5:6-7.

Salt crystals contain positive (life) and negative (death) ions in a regular, repeating arrangement. Since we are the salt, we have those ions in us also. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Prov. 18:20-21.

"For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned (pronounced guilty)." Matt. 12:37.

Salt also symbolizes hospitality, grace in the heart, and wisdom in speech. "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how ye ought to answer every man." Col. 4:6. "Salt from its power of preserving bodies from putrefaction, was thought to have something in it of a divine nature and was made use of as a means to conciliate friendship." (Robert Bland). "Salt is pure and white there is something holy in salt." (Nathaniel Hawthorne).

And again, we have the savor. We read, "If the salt has lost it savour, it is good for nothing, but to be cast out and be trodden under foot of men." Matt. 5:13.

The savor has a distinctive quality, it gives flavor to our words, to have the quality of nature to discern or a state of being. But if we lose it, we become insipid, which means we are stale, lifeless, flavorless, bland, weak, flat, dull, tasteless and wishy-washy, just to name a few. So without the savor we are not able to accomplish anything for God. Why? Because we lost our boldness, flavor and sharpness. Our words will not be quick (living) and powerful anymore like it says in Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

When we followed the call of Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were on fire. The natural glory of the world faded away. So let us look at ourselves. Do we still have our savor or have we lost it? Are we stale, or are we on fire? Is the fire still burning in our bones? When we become complacent in our walk with the Lord, we lose our savor, our fervor.

But never fear if we lost our savor. We will get it back; for God has a plan – Godfire!

Remember in the beginning I asked you to keep in mind fire. And the salt was mined with water and fire, very hot fires.

So to get the savor back in our lives, there has to be water (Holy Spirit) and fire (Godfire). Since in the natural it was mined by water and fire, so it has to be in the Spiritual. "For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." Mark 9:49. And "...you shall be saved; yet so as by fire." 1 Cor. 3:12-15. Salted with salt means you (we) have salt, but not enough, so we will have to get more.

This salt that we are being processed by has purifying, ongoing antiseptic qualities that destroys all germs, everything that is not of God.

So then, after we were salted with fire and salted with salt and we have regained our savor, what will happen then? The salt together with the savor (flavoring) gives us a new liveliness, a new freshness, a zest that is a pleasant flavor, and a pungency that pricks, stings, the sharpness that is stimulating to the senses (mind). It penetrates and it has a bite. The quality of enhancing to be effective, to the point our conversation will be salted with a saltness. When we have the salt and savor together we have boldness, and we have life, plus we give life to others so that they will live also.

The salt and the savor together will accomplish what it was sent forth to do, it will not return void. In Isaiah 55:11 it says, "So shall my (our) word be that goeth forth out of my (our) mouth; it shall not return unto me (us) void, but it shall accomplish that which I (we) please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I (we) sent it."

We have to have the salt with the savor to be effective to do any good in salting the earth. The word says we are the salt of the earth, so let us be salty preservers of the earth. When we speak the word, God's word, it will be so powerful that the people will hear and live. When Jesus said "I AM HE," His words were so powerful that the crowd "went backwards and fell to the ground" John 18:6. So will it be when we speak.

And we have to have a zeal also, which will make us leaders. Zeal–Intensity, ardor, enthusiasm; the inward fire of the soul that urges man onward. Its command is — Go forward! If we don’t try — thinking we may fail — we have already failed. But together with the salt and savor we will not fail. As the salt of the earth, we will salt the earth. Moreover, a frozen heart, like ice, when sprinkled with salt will melt.

And now let us look at Lot's wife. Why was she turned into a pillar of salt when she missed the mark by looking back? Do you see it? Even she will be preserved until the fullness is come (restitution) and be saved. Now that we know what salt does, it preserves. But let us look a little closer she also became a pillar. A pillar is strong and holds up the building. Revelation 3:12 says that he who overcomes shall be a pillar in the temple of my God. Here we have one more confirmation of restitution of all.

So let me conclude with these verses:

"Have salt in yourselves and be at peace one with another." Mark. 9:50.

"And let your speech be always with grace seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Col. 4:6.

Ah, the flavor of salt in the air it is one of the finest flavors in the world – you – us!

Amen!