Matthew 6.22, the light of the
body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be
evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore
the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. 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. It's important to see here that
our Lord Jesus has just spoken in the previous verse of a man's
heart being wherever his treasure is. Wherever your treasure is, whatever
is precious to you and valuable, you'll go after it. That's where
your heart will be. You'll be devoted. And this relates to singleness
of eye, as does the following verse regarding masters. No man
can serve two. How does it relate? Who you serve
has to do with what's precious to you, what's valuable to you. And if you serve God, by free grace through faith if
God has done a work in your heart so that you serve him willingly
and gladly and joyfully. If you're a genuine servant of
God, then you look to him with a single eye. You see how all
these are related? Who your master is, what your
eye is like, and what's valuable, what's precious to you. Your
heart will go for that. First of all, let's talk about
the word serve. No man can serve two masters. The teaching here concerning
this is important to fully understand. The word serve means what you
might expect it to, but perhaps stronger. It has to do with submission
and giving oneself up to. Whoever you give yourself up
to, that's who you serve here, in this context, with this word
and its original meaning. Submission. You'll either give yourself up
to God, in other words, or your own pursuits of gain in this
world. That's what mammon is. It's substance. Money and other things. It's
not just money, but gain, worldly gain. Our Lord said in Matthew
16, 24, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. What does he mean by deny
himself? The same thing he's saying in
our text. This is what serving God rather than mammon has to
do with. It has to do with denial of self. If you serve mammon, why do you
do that? Because of self. Because of what mammon does for
me. For my flesh. It promotes my
flesh. It increases my flesh. It empowers my flesh. At least
I think it does. And so, that's where my heart
is. And he said, let him deny himself and take up his cross.
What does he mean by that? Take up your cross and follow
me. Well, a cross is just good for
one thing. People die on them. That's what
a cross is for. It's for dying on them. That's
the only purpose of a cross. That's what it's for. It's made
for somebody to die on it. And that's what he's saying.
Paul said, I am dead to this world and this world is dead
to me. I am crucified under this world
and this world is crucified to me, and that's what the Lord
said. If you're going to come after me, it's going to have to be
that way. It will be that way. That's what serving God is. It's
denying self. The Lord commanded the rich young
ruler to do that very thing, didn't he? Go and sell all your
stuff. Give it away. Give it to the
poor. And come follow me. Come after me. Deny yourself
and come after me. And he went away sorrowful. Why?
Because he had a lot of stuff. And that's where his heart was.
What was precious to him, that's where his heart was. He couldn't
follow Christ. And neither can any other sinner. In Luke 18, 28, Peter said to
the Lord Jesus Christ, Lo, we have left all and followed Thee. That's the only way to follow
Him. Our Lord said, that's the only
way. If you're going to come after me, that's the way you're
going to do it, by leaving everything. And this is what most people
don't understand about service to God. No one by nature, me,
you, we don't understand this about service to God. It is a
giving oneself up proposition. It's devotion, absolute devotion
to God. It is Abraham, get thee up and
go to a place that I'll tell you of. We can't even get up and go to
a place that we know God has blessed and where we know he
speaks and where we know his worship takes place without his
grace. I know those that won't do that
and none of us will by nature. We won't do that. It's impossible.
With men it's impossible. Much less, get up and go where?
God, well, I'll let you know. That's where. It is Abraham, take thy son,
thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him to me. Offer him to me as a burnt offering. That's what this is. And this word serve here is used
in a special context here. You may serve a master on your
job, and that's what this is. We all serve somebody, don't
we? Even in an earthly sense, and spiritually speaking, we
do too. And the Lord gave us the two choices, the two possibilities. In text, it's either God or mammon
in a spiritual sense. But in earthly terms, we serve
somebody. Everybody got a boss, don't they?
But you may serve a master on your job with relative indifference,
neither loving nor hating him. And you may serve more than one.
You may have two jobs. You may have two bosses that
you serve with equal difference. But here, when it comes to spiritual
service and the spiritual master that you serve, the heart is
fully involved one way or the other. Did you notice the words
love and hate in verse 24? It's love and hate. when it comes to spiritual service. God's people serve him, not because
they're supposed to. Really, is that what we think?
Well, we're supposed to go to church this morning, really.
Is that what it's all about? Vicki and I do just about everything
together. We go grocery shopping together,
we cook together. We sleep together, we wake up
together. Why? Well, I read a book on marriage
and that's what you're supposed to do. We do everything with our children. People say sometimes, you know,
well, you need to get away, you know, without your children.
I'll have a better time if they come with us. Honestly, I will.
Mickey will too. That's just the way we are. Well,
you're just supposed to be together as a family. No, we love them.
We really do. I can't ever remember a time
that I thought, boy, we could just be so happy if we just didn't
have our children. I can't ever remember thinking
that. That's just the way it is. It's
just the way it is. Well, it ain't that way when
it comes to God, until God does something in our heart. You see why the words love and
hate are mentioned in our text. They're service. They're service
mentioned, but not slave labor. That's not what this is. This is willing, loving service. And it's the other way too. You
don't serve yourself because, you know, you feel like it's
your duty to yourself to do it. You do it because you love yourself.
Are you familiar with the concept in scripture of the bond servant?
Let me read it, turn there with me if you would. Exodus 21, let's
look at this together. Exodus 21, one. I believe this'll,
this'll be a help. Exodus 21, one. Now these are
the judgments which thou shalt set before them. This is God
teaching his people the way things are gonna be. He says in verse
two, if thou by an Hebrew servant Six years he shall serve, and
in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. Free, you're
free. You don't have to serve anymore.
If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he
were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master
have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters,
the wife and her children shall be her masters, and he shall
go out by himself. But here's another possibility,
verse five. And if the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will
not go out free. I will not. I'm going to serve. I'm going to continue to be servant. I'm going to continue to be devoted
to my master. Why? Because I love him. I love
him. Then his master shall bring him
unto the judges and he shall also bring him to the door or
unto the doorpost and his master shall bore his ear through with
an awl and he shall serve him forever. Paul begins the book of Romans
this way, Romans 1.1, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. You know what that word is? A
bondman, a bond slave. The word doesn't mean employee.
It means slave. It means bondman. But if you
look it up in Strong's Greek Dictionary, you'll see this definition.
Devoted to another, to the disregard of one's own interests. You can go out and do what you
want to do. I don't want to go out and do what I want to do.
I want to do what my master wants me to do. I want to do whatever he has
laid out today for me. Why? Because I love him. Interesting word in Matthew 6
verse 24 there where we read translated hold to He'll hold
to the one It means to lay hold of to adhere to cling to to cling
to Gain for God yourself and or him, your own pursuits and
interests or his. This is not complicated. Paul said in second Corinthians
514, for the love of Christ constraineth us, his love for us and our love
for him. It constrains us because we thus
judge that if one died for all, Then we're all dead. He died
for me. Why? Because I was dead. And
him die, he died for me and gave me life. I live because he died. And that he died for all that
they which live. Who are they? The ones he died
for. Everyone he dies for lives. And they should not henceforth
live unto themselves. but unto him which died for them
and rose again. It just makes good sense, doesn't
it? If he's your master, it does. If he died for you, it does.
If you know him, it does. Now, we know the deciding factor
in this. Will I serve myself or will I
serve him? It's not a decision that man
makes. It's really not. It doesn't come about that way.
We choose the Lord Jesus Christ, but not Salvation's not by choice. Once you choose him, you're already
saved. You don't choose him in order
to be saved. You choose him because he loved
you and gave himself for you and saved you. Why did that woman, why does anyone in the scripture Why was she washing his feet
with the tears of her eyes and the hairs of her head? In order
to be saved? Or because the Lord Jesus Christ
had saved her? It's not our decision. Our Lord
told the disciples after the rich young ruler had walked away
sorrowful in Matthew 19 that a rich man cannot anymore deny
himself and follow Christ then a camel can pass through the
eye of a needle. And we've already seen how he's
taught that that's exactly what we must do. We must deny ourself
and follow him. But he said, a camel will pass
through the eye of a needle before a rich man will ever do that.
And they were amazed and said, who then can be saved? Well,
you know, if not a rich person, maybe a poor person. You know,
we don't have all the distractions, you know, of having all these
things. And maybe a poor person. would be able to do that. Nope.
With men, this is impossible. With men. If you're mankind,
if you're a human being, then you can't do it. According to
the Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 19. You can't do it. No man can come unto me, except
John 6, 65, the father which hath sent me drawing drawing. Who then can be saved? With men
it's impossible, but with God all things are possible. Salvations
of the Lord. God's going to have to save us. He can't just make salvation
possible. That's not going to get it done.
We're all going to hell if that's all he does. If he does his best
and leaves anything up to us, we're goners because we've all
gone astray. He looked down upon the children of men to see if
there were any that did seek Him. You know what he saw? There were none that seek after
God. There are none that doeth good.
No, not one. There in John 6, we're told that
if a man comes to Christ, it is because the Father draws him. The word means to take from one
place and bring to another. The place he takes us from is
self. The place he brings us to is
Christ. It's not complicated, is it?
Oh, that doctrine of election and irresistible grace, that's
too complicated. If I can get it, it ain't that complicated.
God takes you from where you are, self, and brings you to
his son, and you're not gonna come any other way. Is that what
he said? Salvation is of the Lord. He
purposed it. He promised it in His Word. He
purchased it with His blood. He performed it in us and He
perpetuates it. He causes it to... He sustains
us in other words. Salvation is of the Lord. And here's the teaching of verse
22 and 23 of Matthew 6. What he said in 22 and 23, if
you're I, be single, the light of the body is the I. When God
conquers your heart, when he causes you to fall out of love
with yourself and in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, he gives
a single I, an I with one thing in sight. That merchant man seeking
goodly pearls in the scripture, you remember, I quote that so
much, we won't turn there. But there was the kingdom of
heaven, the Lord said, is like a merchant man seeking goodly
pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went
and sold all that he had, and he bought that pearl. Now he
was looking for pearls with an S before, until he found that
one pearl. And then he wasn't looking for
pearls anymore. You see what a single eye is?
It's a similar word to what Paul, it's not the same Greek word,
but it's very closely related. What Paul said, I fear lest through
the subtlety of Satan, you be removed from the simplicity,
the singleness that's in Christ. The simplicity, a single eye. Mary had a single eye in Luke
10 42. Martha was distracted, but Mary
had eyes for one person only, for one thing, one thing. And
those, our Lord used those very words. He articulated what Mary
was living. He described what Mary was actually
living out when he said to Martha, one thing is needful. Mary had a single eye. One thing
is needful and Mary hath chosen it. That good part that'll never
be taken away from her. What made him say that? What
made him say that, that good part? With so much else to be
done, so many distractions, there was much to be done, wasn't there?
Martha, if she didn't know what else needed to be done, she could
have just asked Martha. Martha had a list. But why did the Lord say, Mary
hath chosen that good part? One thing is needful. What made
him say that? What was she doing? Let me read it to you from the
actual text, Luke 10, 39. Martha had a sister called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. She sat at His feet and heard
His word. Well, that's not much, is it?
That's everything. People think of service to God
as some great, let's build buildings and make an empire. She's just
sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, hearing his word. And our Lord said, there's one
thing needful and Mary gets it. But I've got family in town.
One thing is needful. Well, I'll have to take care
of my old father for a while, but once I bury him, I'll come
and serve you. Let the dead bury their dead
and let the relatives talk bad about you. You come follow me. Well, I just don't feel good.
The woman with the issue of blood, you think she felt good. Did
that keep her from worshiping the Lord or did it cause her
to seek him out and lay hold of him? Wherever your treasure is, that's
where your heart will be, regardless of everything else and everybody
else. You see, it's all the Lord taught
here in our text. It's all in how you see things.
If your eye is single, you'll see things a certain way. And
if your eye is evil, that word is not iniquity, sin. It means diseased. And it has
everything to do with iniquity and sin. What's the disease of
our eye? Sin. Our eyes are sin diseased. And if yours are yet, you'll
see things a certain way too. Without the eye, light cannot
be perceived at all. If you close your eyes, you'll
get some idea of what it would be like to not have any eyes.
But even that is not the same. I can still see some things.
I can see shadows and light a little bit through my eye. Imagine if
you didn't have any eyes. No light, no perception whatsoever. But if your eye is evil, that
is diseased, and by nature it is, then you're full of darkness,
spiritually speaking. It's as though you didn't have
any eyes. That's why we pray, Lord, give
us eyes to see. Give us eyes of faith. Give us
a single eye to look to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. It's as though
we're full of darkness. Sin has diseased us all through. That's why he said you're full
of darkness, full of darkness. There's no room for any light.
Darkness has completely filled you. From the sole of our foot
to the crown of our head, there's no soundness in us. If your way
of seeing things is diseased by sin, then evil is all there
is in you and about you. Is that what he said? You know it is, and I know it
is. What think ye of Christ? He asked that question once,
didn't he? What think ye of Christ? Your answer will have to do with
how you see things. What kind of eye do you have? And the horrible thing is, that
when you're in this natural state, every man is born with a sin-diseased
eye. And the horrible thing is, it
appears to you, the darkness within you appears to be light.
That's what he said, if that light that's in you be darkness. Well, see there, he said, if
the light in you, everybody's got some light in them. No, look
at the context. He's just said your whole body
shall be full of darkness. There's no light in there. You
just think it's light. That light that you say is light
is darkness. It's not light. That's the problem. If you're looking at things through
a sin-diseased eye, you call that darkness light. That's what
he said to the Pharisees in John 9. He said, you say we see, and
therefore your sin remaineth. You talk to some of these religious
people around this town. Tell them, oh yeah, I've read
my Bible, I see, I know some things. But if that light that's
in you is darkness, if what you think is light, I have an eye,
I can see. Not by nature. If you say, By nature I see your
sin remaineth. When you can truly see is when
you say, I'm blind. That's what he said, John 9.
I'm blind, I'm dead, I'm undone, like Isaiah said. I'm undone. I'm vile, like Job said. I'm
the sinner, like the publican said. And seeing my sin as it
is, seeing my darkness, understanding that by nature I'm full of darkness,
and seeing him as he is by God's grace. When he gives a single
eye, when he gives the eye of faith, I cry like that publican
did this too, Lord be merciful to me. Shine your light in the
darkness. God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, shine in my heart. to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of your son.
If you don't, I'll be full of darkness and I'll go to hell
full of darkness. Shine your light in my heart. I have, by God's grace, a single
eye. And you know what I see? I see that if I can but touch the
hem of his garment, I'll be made whole. What I see is this, by His grace. I didn't figure this out. Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood didn't reveal
this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. What did
He reveal? You're the Christ. You're the
Son of God. But by God's grace, what I see
is this, this pearl is worth more than everything that I have. Everything. And I will act upon it. What
I see is this, I see with Moses that the reproach of Christ is
greater than all the treasures in Egypt. Do you see that? Have you been enabled by God's
grace to plainly say, I love my master. I will not go free
from him. To be free from him is bondage. And to be his bond slave is freedom. I see that now. Dear Lord, engrave it on my heart
that thou, the one thing needful art. I could from all things
parted be, but never, never, Lord, from thee. Needful is thy
precious blood to reconcile my soul to God. Needful thy indulgent
care. Needful thy intercessory prayer. Needful thy presence, dearest
Lord, true peace and comfort to afford. Needful thy promise
to impart fresh life and peace to my sinful heart. Needful art
thou, my guide, my stay through all life's dark and weary way.
Nor less in death thou wilt needful be to bring my spirit home to
thee. Then needful still, my God, my
King, thy name eternally I'll sing. Glory and praise be ever
His. The one thing needful, Jesus
is. If you can honestly say that
from your heart, you have a single eye, by God's grace. The hearing ear and the seeing
eye. The Lord hath made them both. Praise him for it. Thank him for his almighty grace
that gave you eyes to see. Let's bow in prayer.