May God be pleased to bless us
together as we continue our meditation on the Sermon on the Mount. This
evening we'll turn to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, and we'll
read just one verse, verse 24. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter
6, and reading verse 24. No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise
the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. We've thought upon the previous
verses here, which again direct us to the needs to separate really
time things from eternal things and perhaps particularly that
verse 19 where we're told lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves
break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves
do not break through and steal for where your treasure is there
will your heart be also and the Lord follows on in this sermon
directing us to the great need there is to have a single eye
to spiritual things and to be concerned for spiritual blessings
and not to be found trying to satisfy our old nature the lust
of the flesh and the pride of life and also to satisfy the
demands of God and the Word of God. How clear it is that the
Lord tells us we cannot serve two masters and yet by nature
that's precisely what we do. And so it's important to realize
the Lord in His grace and mercy has given us such a direction
as this, so that we may lay hold upon it, take it to heart and
desire that we may only be found serving one Master, and that
is the Great Master, and that is the Lord of Lords and the
King of Kings. and we may think well that's
pretty obvious well it may be but you and I need much grace
to follow that line and to follow that pattern because we have
the continual battle between the flesh and the spirit and
how they what opposition there is and how we are by nature a
fond of the things of time We live in time, we're surrounded
by time things, our eyes see them, our ears hear them, and
it's very easy to be attracted to the things of time, which
will not profit our eternal soul. And so it's a good consideration
and a good word from our God as he tells us here in these
very clear words, no man can serve two masters. And he tells
us what the result will be if we try. And of course, naturally,
sadly, we do try, don't we? But this is the result. The result
is this. For either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise
the other. Well, we might think, well, that's
a fairly extreme statement. Well, it may be, but of course,
it is true, because it is so easy for us to turn away from
the things of God, and in effect, to hate those things, because
they cut across our path. because we can't do the things
that our flesh wants to do. And therefore the result is that
we really rebel against the Word of God. We rebel against the
commands of God. And we might say we're very short-sighted
because we're only considering things in the light of time rather
than in the light of eternity. For either he will hate the One
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the
other. Well, we should be very aware
of the cunningness and the cleverness of our adversary, the devil,
Don't forget he describes that one who goes about as an angel
of light and he pretends to us that many things that our flesh
likes we can indulge ourselves in and there's no harm in it
and in any effect it's a good thing to do. Well the trouble
is that we very soon find and perhaps it's not very soon that
our hearts become carnally minded. Fleshly minded, lusting after
the things of this world. And what it does is to separate
us from our God. And it dulls our spiritual life. dulls our spiritual life. Let
us not be taken in, therefore, by the skill of our great adversary. Never underestimate the skill
of the devil. He is far more skilled than you
and I are. And we need the continual help
and grace of God. Remembering those words that
we've considered fairly recently, lead us not into temptation,
and deliver us from evil. May we pray it constantly, that
therefore we may be found walking in this right way. And then he
tells us, ye therefore cannot serve God and mammon. It's not
possible. It's not possible. We might think
it is. It's not possible. Because we
are then divided in our affections. We're trying to serve ourselves. And we're trying to serve God.
And God is a jealous God. And God will not be divided. We read, didn't we, in that 24th
chapter of Joshua, a very instructive chapter, that Joshua spoke to
Israel. And it's good to realize that,
like Moses, they had some very important things to say a short
time before they were to be taken from this earth. And it's always
a good thing to listen to such words. And so therefore he addressed
Israel, told them very clearly how they've been blessed, how
they've been led, how God had been wonderfully gracious to
them, notwithstanding all their sins. And then he asked them
this question, choose you this day whom you will serve. And well, their response was,
we will serve the Lord. But then Joshua then examined
that statement, whether they really meant what they said.
And again, it's a good thing to have our religion really tested,
because we can say things fairly glibly, especially if we know
what the right answer is. We can just say things glibly,
but not really from our heart. And therefore, it's a wonderful
favour if God gives us that real desire to seek spiritual blessings
and to not find ourselves divided, and to be found truly serving
the Lord, whatever the cost. You might think, well, what does
just this mammon mean? And it's a strange word, isn't
it? Well, I rely on Dr. John Gill, who gave us a definition.
He, as you well know, I expect, was a very great scholar, a great
Hebrew scholar, and a Greek scholar, and he tells us this. The word
mammon is a Syriac word and signifies money, wealth, riches, substance,
and everything that comes under the name of worldly goods. Jerome says, that riches in the
Syriac language are called mammon. So therefore, we can see, can
we not, that mammon really is a very comprehensive word. And I suppose we could conclude
that it means everything which is not of God. That which is
not of the spirit of God. that which is of the flesh, indeed,
whatever is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes. And the pride of life is mammon. We need to remember such a statement,
don't we? To some, food is their mammon. Some people are gluttons, and
they eat far too much. And that's serving themselves,
and that's not serving the Lord. And they're having two masters.
And then others, it's their ease and their sleep. or their sports,
or their pastimes, or things that you may say, well, I don't
see any harm in any of those things. Well, that, of course,
is the real red light, isn't it? That's a real danger signal. Because what that really means
is that we're not serving the Lord. We are divided in our attention. And it's important, therefore,
that the Lord blesses us with a right desire. Others, you see,
prefer honours and preferments, and they seek great things for
themselves, so that men might look up to them. And again, there's
another danger here, isn't there? All comes under the category
of mammon. What a mercy if you and I are
given that content to be humble and not to covet earthly things. We are to covet the best things. What are they? Spiritual blessings. What does that mean? Union and
communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. So surely we come down,
don't we, to this great and important question. Are we divided in our
affections? We need to therefore come before
God and perhaps, as David did those years ago, he came and
he sat before the Lord. It's a good position, you know,
to come and sit before the Lord and ask the Lord whether perhaps
we're making mistakes. whether we're going along the
wrong road, whether we're allowing ourselves to indulge in things
which do not profit. And we find ourselves, therefore,
in this way. And we are trying to serve mammon
and God. And the Word of God tells us
here, We can't. We can't. Oh, my friends, let
us remember this great truth and just what Joshua said, because
it's a very important word in that chapter we read together
where he says, now therefore, fear the Lord. Oh, how important
that is, isn't it? For all of us to be blessed with
the fear of the Lord. We're told the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. The beginning of heavenly wisdom.
You and I can be the cleverest person in the world with all
natural knowledge and fall into hell. But if we're blessed with
spiritual understanding, spiritual wisdom, the grace of God, then
it's well with our soul. And so Joshua says, now therefore,
fear the Lord. And serve him in sincerity and
in truth, not with a double mind. Serve him in sincerity and in
truth. And put away the gods which your
father served on the other side of the flood. Well, that really
means serving gods which are not true gods, serving the world. And that's exactly the position
that Abraham was brought out of, Ur of the Chaldees, brought
out of that condition of serving other gods, and serve the other
side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Oh, what a blessing. If you and
I are given grace to serve the Lord with an undivided heart,
how much better we would be, wouldn't we? How much more spiritual
we would be, wouldn't we? How much nearer the Lord would
we live, wouldn't we? And so he goes on, and if it
seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day,
not tomorrow, not in a week's time, Not in a year's time, because
you've got something you want to do tomorrow, which you might
think might cut across such a statement as this. So he says, choose you
this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father
served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods
of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and
my house, we will serve the Lord. Well, my friends, what a blessing
for you and me today if we're able to take such a verse as
this to heart. No man, none of us, can serve
two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot
serve God and mammon. So may we, by the grace of God,
choose, as the Israelites did, to serve the Lord. Amen.