PORTERVILLE POST | The "RIGHT" Word © ~ with Brother Scott

| “ASLEEP IN THE LIGHT” #2

The Right Word^© - Oct 25, 2026
with Brother Scott : scott@portervillepost.com

Listen :

(† Matthew 5:11) Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 13 Ye 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 to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

In His “Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus has much to teach us as His followers about how we are to think and feel and speak and live before God and men; to do as He teaches is to be blessed (v.11). But here in verses 11 to 16 He speaks of the trouble we will have by living as a testimony to our love of God and as His witnesses of the Divine plan to save those that will die to the world and live unto God. This is trouble that we do not welcome but must understand is an outcome by our witness, set our "face like a flint", and contend with the resulting resistance by the fire of God’s inspiration.
In these last days and by God’s plan, we are caused to be here, in this time and place, to be witnesses to those that the Holy Spirit says, “Speak to him or her about Jesus the Savior”. His is the inspiration we will receive to exert our saltiness and be light to the lost the Lord desires to save.

To some that we will speak to, they'll eventually be saved,
to others that reject the message, sadly it will be
a witness against them on the Day of Judgment.

( † † † )
† Isaiah 50: [Consider this passage as a word to all of us as witnesses:] 4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. 6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting [speaks of persecution]. 7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint (a hard rock used to spark fires when struck by steel [like turning into the winds blowing against me]), and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8 He is near that justifieth me [see Rom. 8:33]; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me [see Rom. 8:34]? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. 10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.

As I shared in part one, once born again, Jesus is the Light and at the Head of our life—just as the flame is at the head of a candle; we are the candle that is to bear the flame of His fire as witnesses in these last days.
But know this also about light: His Word is Light unto our soul and spirit and by our reading and living it we will grow in knowledge, faith’s strength, and have the guidance of the Lord.
At († Luke 13 & 17), Jesus did liken faith to a mustard seed that has the potential to become a mighty herb tree but as stated at († Romans 10), faith must be nourished by the light of God’s Word and our individualized training and testings by the Holy Spirit.
You also know that light is essential to growth for most things God has given life to (called photosynthesis—using light as an energy source); so it is for a Christian once we break through the hard ground of this world’s dark bondage. We must have the light of God’s Word to energize us daily or we will spiritually wander and eventually wither.

( † † † )
† Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
† 2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. . .

I don’t think the Lord’s teaching involving us as salt and then light is without meaning itself. By recognizing its properties, if we lose our given saltiness we are not about to let our light shine. And so we must examine this part of what Jesus said, which is joined to the declaration that “ye are the light of the world”:

( † † † )
† Matthew 5:13 Ye 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 to be trodden under foot of men.

As to the Lord’s declaration that “ye”—we are the salt of the earth; what must we understand about ourselves and our new life in Christ based on His statement? If you and I are salt, then these things should describe our lives as born-again ones:

These things should describe our lives as born-again ones:

1. Salt does at least two things: In practical terms, it is used as a preservative and it draws-out or enhances the flavor of food.
2. From the Greek word halas, salt but also figuratively means “prudence”, which is knowing how to avoid distress, and to have discretion in practical affairs. It includes the ability to govern and discipline oneself through caution and careful judgment. In one word, prudence is wisdom (my personal definition of wisdom is taking the correct biblical knowledge and or personal experience and applying it to a situation for help or solution, including in the issue of how to shine His Light).
3. Salt that has “lost his savour”, the Greek word here is moraino, means “the distinctive taste or character is lacking; the former stimulating qualities have been lost. For a Christian man or woman, he or she has become “dull or boring” compared to what he had been and is “good for nothing” as endowed—he has lost his (salty) force, and is “cast out to be trodden under foot”, literally rejected by others with disdain (strong dislike or disapproval).

( † † † )
† Mark 9: [Jesus said in another place:] 50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
† James 3: [as to prudence/wisdom:] 13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. . . 17 …the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace [the seeds of the fruit of righteousness are sown by peace].
† Colossians 4:5 Walk in wisdom [as the salt of the earth] toward them that are without, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

When we are born again from Heaven by the Spirit of God, Who comes with the mind of the Father and the Son, our life is salted and we as a candle are lit a-fire. Depending on our personality, some are more salty and brighter than others but all are salted and a fire ignited within.
From such a renewed state, a believer will maintain these spiritual virtues and even build on them or will let saltiness and light wane (become diluted and diffused) through compromise and laziness toward needed spiritual disciplines (reading and living the Word, fellowship with God through Jesus, and the growth experiences the Holy Spirit leads us through; covered recently in One of God’s Guarantees).

The Same is True of One’s Faith in God An often underdeveloped critical aspect of our spiritual success through Christ.

( † † † )
† John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
† John 17: [Jesus prayed:] 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
† 2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (freedom, being unrestrained). 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
† Ezekiel 16: [In a fashion, this is how we were born into a sinful world—God says:] 4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. 5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. [Spiritually lost and left to one day die into eternal separation form God.]
† Mark 9: [BUT! This is what happens when we are born-again as a child of God] 49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice (the sacrificial offering OR the act of holy service) shall be salted with salt. 50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Being Asleep in the Light is an indication that a believer has lost his or her saltiness. In this day and age, many that had been salted at their new birth lose their saltiness (as Jesus warned), and the fire brought by the Holy Spirit has all but gone out—a spiritually dangerous thing to happen to a child of God having been rubbed with salt and given the fire-light of the Life of Christ our Lord.
Ask yourself if this is you, savorless salt and dim spiritual light? If you agree that it is, what can be done? What must be done is what I have hammered-on in some way each week:

What Can Be Done? What Must Be Done?

1. Read you Bible every day; of what you read, meditate on a key thought off-and-on throughout your day, feed on it and let it take up residence in you.
2. In your fear of God (reverence, appreciation, love), do not neglect at least a few minutes of daily prayer, praise, and moments of worship of Him.
3. And this is as important: Be filled with the Holy Spirit, Who will rejuvenate lost saltiness and fan the flame of His Presence in your spirit and soul’s awareness with power to witness. It is Jesus that sends the Spirit of God for those that ask, therefore be baptized in the Spirit and refilled often.

( † † † )
† Matthew 3: [John said:] 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. . .
† Acts 1: [Jesus said:] 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth...
† Acts 2: [After being baptized in the Holy Ghost, Peter preached:] 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
[Prophecy: One of 9 or more spiritual gifts resulting from the baptism from the Holy Spirit] . . . [The baptism was not just for the Apostles, but came upon all that desired it (then and now): There were at least 15 countries that heard the praise of God in their own language that morning, then came the 7 appointed as deacons including Philip “full of the Spirit”, then the brand new believers in Cornelius’ home, and later the Ephesian men. And, the baptism is for you also:]
† Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
† Ephesians 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time [also Col. 4:5; spending out time wisely/as salt shakers!], because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. . .

Now as the writer of († Hebrews) says in chapter 8:1, “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum”; this is the sum of these two weeks: When you were born again from above, the Holy Spirit came into your regenerated spirit brining salt and fire to light the candle-wick of your new life in Christ.
When you honor the saltiness, you have the boldness to shine the light of Jesus all day, every day in the way you live and the things that you might say that is light.
It is by your lifestyle, behavior, and by your open testimony among others who hear about why you have the peace and the hope that you do in these days that [by these things] they are confronted by the Spirit of God unto the salvation of their souls.
Let us not sleep in the light but be bringers of light to the lost, no matter even if their response is persecution († Matt. 5:11-16). It is what the Lord desires of us from now forward.

( † † † )
† Jeremiah 20:8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. 9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. 10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. 11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. . . 13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers. [And so, the Lord says to you and I today:]
† Acts 26:16 [So] rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness. . . 18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
† Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Note: More interesting details and explanations are
contained in the audio recording of this Part Two message.