Serve Who You Trust

Turn back to Matthew chapter 6. I've entitled this message, You Serve Who You Trust. Who do you trust? That's who you serve. Let me read our text again. In verse 24 of Matthew chapter 6, 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. You cannot serve God and mammon. The Lord tells us it's impossible to serve two masters or two lords. It's a thing impossible. Here's what will take place if we attempt to serve two masters or two lords. We will hate the one and we will love the other. Always true. We will cleave to the one and have disdain or contempt or despise the other. but we cannot hold to both. We can't despise both. And then he says, you can't serve God and mammon. And here's the big question.

What is mammon? It's actually a word, an Aramaic word, I don't know why it's presented this way in the Bible, but it's not Greek, it's not Hebrew, it's an Aramaic word. And it means literally that which is trusted. That which is trusted. Generally, when we think of mammon, we think of dirty money, money by ill-gotten gain, something of that nature. Indeed, I'm sure that can be included, but the word means, by definition, that which is trusted.

Let's look at the only other time it's used in the New Testament, Luke chapter 16. This is right after the parable of the unjust steward. And this is the way the Lord concludes this parable, verse 13 of Luke chapter 16. 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. You cannot serve God and mammon."

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, literally lovers of silver, lovers of money, The Pharisees who were covetous, when they heard all these things, they derided him. They spake ill of him in complete disagreement with what he said. Now here we see that Mammon has something to do with Covetousness. I was glad that Drew read that passage of scripture in Ephesians chapter five. I don't know if you mentioned how often or if you noticed how often covetous is mentioned. Covetousness is idolatry. We just read that in Ephesians chapter five. The word covetous means literally the love of money, the love of silver. Now turn to first Timothy six for just a moment. First Timothy six. Verse five. Well, let's start in verse three.

If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine, which is according to godliness, he's proud. knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strife of words where have cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmising, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain, financial prosperity, is godliness.

From such withdraw thyself, but godliness With contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it's certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." Now, if you have Christ, you're content. You're content with food, you're content with raiment, you have Christ as your food, you have Christ as your raiment, you're satisfied, you're content.

But, verse nine, they that will be rich, that's their desire, they that will be rich fall into temptation. and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money. Not money, the love of money. I'm thankful for money. You're thankful for money. We want to be able to pay our bills. We want to have a quality of life that we can be comfortable with and enjoy. There's nothing wrong with that.

Many men in the scriptures were rich men. Abraham was rich. Job was rich. David was rich. Solomon was rich. We could go on and on. Many men in the scriptures were rich. But he doesn't say money is the root of all evil, but the love of money is the root of all evil. What you trust money can do for you. Status, power, security. Like the rich fool, I've got much goods laid up for many years. I'm in good shape. The love of money, the love of the security of money.

That is when money becomes mammon. You serve what you trust. You serve who you trust. If you trust mammon, mammon is your Lord and master. If you trust Jesus Christ, he is your Lord. and master. You see, you serve who you trust. Do you trust money and the things it can do for you and the way it can give you security and give you what you want? Or do you trust the Lord Jesus Christ?

You can't serve them both. You can't trust them both, one or the other. I think of Elijah saying, how long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, serve Him. If they'll be God, serve Him. But you can't serve both. You can't halt between two opinions. They've been trying to serve them both, and in doing so, in reality, they were serving neither. You cannot serve two lords. You can't have two objects of trust.

And this comes down to, as it always does, the simplicity of Christ. the singularity of Christ. You can't trust Christ and you can't trust him and we trust him alone or we don't trust him at all. Now think about that. He's all we have or we don't have him at all. We trust him alone. or we don't trust Him at all. It's the scriptures alone that tell us to trust Christ alone, which is caused by grace alone, through faith alone, giving glory to God alone. You can't trust Christ and. You can't trust Christ and have any other object of trust.

I love the song we sing, rich as I heed not, nor man's empty praise. Thou, my inheritance, now and always, Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of heaven, my treasure." There he is, my treasure, the object of my trust. My treasure, thou art. Now I want to look at some things in the scripture about this thing of trust. Would you turn to Psalm 62? Spurgeon entitled this Psalm the only Psalm. Let's read it together. Psalm 62.

Truly my soul waiteth upon God. And my marginal reading says it's silent. It's silent before God. You don't really have anything to say. You bowed his feet silent before him. You can't say anything to him that he doesn't already know. My soul is silent before God from him come with my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved.

How long will you imagine mischief against a man? You should be slain, all of you. As a bowing wall shall you be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly.

My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times. Ye people, pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.

I love this description of humanity. Surely men of low degree are vanity. Men of high degree are a lie. To be late in the bounce, they're altogether lighter than vanity. Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart on them.

God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy. For thou renderest to every man according to his work. Turn to Psalm 52. The psalmist begins with this question, why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually.

Thy tongue deviseth mischief, like a sharp razor working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee forever, he shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and root thee out of the land of the living. The righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

Turn to Psalm 49 while you're turning there. I wanna read Psalm 20, verse seven. Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Now this 49th Psalm. Hear this, all ye people. Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world. This is to everybody, both low and high, rich and poor together.

My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my tongue shall be of understanding. I'll incline mine ear to a parable. I will open my dark saying upon the harp. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?

They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother and give to God a ransom for him, for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth not that he should still live forever in Nazi corruption.

For he seeth that the wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue forever and that they're dwelling places to all generations. They call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless, man, being in honor, what we would call a respectable, successful man, abides not. He's like the beasts that perish. This their way is their folly, yet their posterity prove their sayings. Like sheep that are laid in the grave, death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave. He shall receive me. Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased?

For when he dieth, he shall carry nothing away. His glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived, he blessed his soul, men will praise thee when thou doest well to thyself. He shall go to the generation of his fathers, they shall never see light. Man doth honor, and understandeth not, is like a beast that perishes. He's no different than a brute beast.

Who do you trust? That's who you serve. Who do you trust? Who or what is the object of your trust? Who or what do you have confidence in? Makes you bold. Makes you confident. Makes you secure. Makes you feel safe. No worries. Who do you have confidence in? Who do you trust?

Let me read some more scriptures. I'm not going to ask you to turn to these, but I'm going to read them to you. Psalm 4, 5 says, offer the sacrifices of righteousness. And that's talking about the righteousness of Christ. Offer the sacrifices righteousness and put your trust in the Lord.

Psalm 910, they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. Now that's just not speaking of knowing his name audibly. You know his name represents who he is, his person, his justice, his sovereignty, his power, his holiness, his independence, His mercy, His grace, His immutability, go on with all of His attributes. Those that know thy name, that means you know Him. You will put your trust in Him. If He is revealed to you so that you know Him, you will trust Him.

Psalm 13, 5, I've trusted in thy mercy, O Lord. Psalm 25 too, oh my God, I trust thee. Let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me. Psalm 27, three and four, though war should rise up against me, in this will I be confident. In this will I trust one thing have I desired of the Lord. Not two things, one thing. have I desired of the Lord. And that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire into his temple.

For in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in the pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle. And the Lord Jesus Christ is his tabernacle. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He shall hide me and set my feet upon a rock. This one thing I've desired is to dwell in the house of the Lord.

And I remember as a young boy reading that and thinking, I wouldn't want to be in that temple all the time. You get bored. That's just, that's too much. I couldn't really say that. I didn't understand what it meant. I want to dwell only in Christ all the time so that all God ever sees when he sees this man is Jesus Christ, his blessed son. That's the one thing I've desired.

Psalm 28, seven, the Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him and I am helped. Psalm 31.6, I have hated them that regarded lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord.

Psalm 32.10, he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about, surrounded by nothing but the mercy of God all the time. Psalm 37, three, commit thy way to the Lord, and trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. He's gonna bring you into the very presence of God.

Psalm 44, verse six, for I'll not trust in my bow, neither shall my shield save me, but thou hast saved us from our enemies. I'm not trusting my bow or shield. Psalm 56, three, what time I'm afraid. I will trust in thee. Psalm 56, four, in God have I put my trust. I'll not fear what flesh can do unto me, even my flesh. Psalm 56, 11, in God have I put my trust. I will not fear what man can do unto me.

Psalm 62, eight, trust in Him at all times, ye people. When is the time to trust the Lord? All times, no matter what the condition, no matter what the state of your heart is. When is the time to trust the Lord? All times. Well, I wanna get some better feelings. I know, trust Him right now, all times. Psalm 91 too, I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and fortress. In thee will I put my trust.

Psalm 118, nine and 10, it's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in a man. It's better to trust in the Lord to have confidence in princes. Psalm 125, one day the trust of the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which can never be moved. but abideth forever. You're all familiar with this in Proverbs chapter three, verse five, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding.

Proverbs 11, 28, he that trusteth in his riches shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. Jeremiah 17, five, curse it, be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm. Verse seven, it says, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is.

I repeat the question, who do you trust? I know who the Father has trusted. I love that passage of Scripture in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 12, that we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ. Now listen, the Father trusted in Christ a long time before you did.

And He trusted in Him for your salvation a long time before you did. And when He handed you over to His Son, did He have any doubt that His Son would completely accomplish your salvation? Not a doubt, not a thought. He knew His Son was willing and able to save you, and He trusted Him completely for your salvation. He trusted Him 100% for your salvation. He didn't look for anything out of you. He didn't think, well, they need to do this, or they need to do that, or they need to quit doing this, and they start being, no, nothing at all like that.

He completely trusted Jesus Christ to save you. When Christ said, I'll be surety for him, my salvation was a done deal before. I ever experienced anything. That's how the Father trusted Jesus Christ to save me. And I'm called upon to trust Him the same way the Father trusts Him. The Father trusts Him for everything. You and I are called on to trust Him for everything. You remember the rich young ruler? What the Lord said to him as he walked away or said to the people listening? How hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter the kingdom of heaven. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Camel can't get through the eye of a needle, can it? I've read where camels have to bend way down and get that sort of heart. No, a camel can't get through the eye of a needle.

And a rich man, that man who trusts riches, cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Listen to this scripture, 2 Corinthians chapter one, verse nine, Paul said, we have the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God that raises the dead. Now let me tell you who I trust. that one whom God raised from the dead.

That satisfies my conscience. That satisfies His resurrection. He was delivered from our offenses. He was raised again for our justification. I trust Him. What He did is enough. I'm not looking for anything else. I trust Him raising me from the dead. I'm not looking to some experience I had or some work I've done to think, well, I did this, therefore He did that. No, not at all.

I trust He raised me from the dead. He gave me faith. He gave me repentance. He gave me love to Christ. He gave me all of this. I trust Him to raise me on that last day. I sure can't raise myself. I don't have any hope it'd be doing that. Are you doing anything for me? I trust God that raises the dead. I repeat, who you trust, that is who you serve. You can't trust Christ in something else. You trust him alone. Or you don't trust him at all. You can't trust him and something else. You can't serve two masters. You can't have two objects of trust.

I can say to everybody in this room and outside of this room, you're serving somebody right now. You are serving somebody right now. I think, I hesitate to quote him, but I think Bob Dylan had it right when he said, you got to serve somebody. You may be an ambassador to England or France. You might like to gamble. You might like to dance. You might be the heavyweight champion of the world.

You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls, but you gotta serve somebody. Everybody serves somebody. It may be the devil, it may be the Lord, but you got to serve somebody. You can't serve two masters. You can't have two Lords. You can't have two objects of trust. You can't serve God and man.

And now I want to leave you with this thought, who you are right now trusting. Are you trusting Jesus Christ as everything in your salvation? Can you say with Paul, I know whom I have believed. I know who he is. I'm not trying to talk about my subjective experience of sitting in his lap or anything like that. I want to, but I'm talking about, I know who he is. He's God. He's incapable of failure. His will must be done.

I know whom I have believed. You see, what you believe is determined by who you believe. We're wasting our time when we're trying to talk somebody into believing this doctrine or that doctrine. The only issue is who is Jesus Christ. You see who he is? Everything's gonna fall into place. I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded. I have been persuaded. And I know who persuaded me of this, he did. I am persuaded that He is able. Are you persuaded of that? Convinced of that? He is able.

There's nothing you add to that. He is able to keep that which I've committed to Him. I've committed to Him the entire salvation of my soul. If He doesn't do it all, I won't be saved. I know that. I believe that. And you don't commit if you look to your works in any way. That's failure to commit. You commit when you look to Him alone and trust Him only as everything in your salvation. Now, are you trusting Him only? Then I know who your Lord and Master is. He is your Lord and He is your master. And the evidence of that is you trust Him only.

No man can serve two masters. You can't trust Christ and Mammon. That's trusting anything else. May the Lord enable us to be people who don't try to serve two masters. We know it can't be done. We look to Him only. And the service comes out of looking to Him only. If you start looking at a passage of scripture like this, say, well, I need to not be so taken up with materialism and worldly things. Well, yeah, but that's not doing you any good to even think that way. You trust him only, and I know who you'll serve. You'll serve him only.

Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for our Redeemer. And Lord, by your grace, we trust only Him. We're relying upon Him. We're rejoicing in Him. We're glorying in Him. We're looking to Him only as everything in our salvation. Lord, teach us to lean all the weight of our soul upon Him. and find peace resting in who he is and what he accomplished in our behalf. How we thank you for your blessed son, our savior. How we thank you for his glory and salvation. Bless this word for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen.

Serve Who You Trust

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Serve Who You Trust

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