1. THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF SERVING GOD AND MAMMON Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13; Joshua 24:14-21; 1 Kings 18:21; Hosea 10:1,2; James 1:8; 1 Samuel 7:3; Matthew 4:8-11; Galatians 1:10; John 6:24-27. “No man can serve two masters.” Christ’s declaration is true at all times, in all ages. This is a law of human nature. A servant cannot serve two masters at the same time. His affection, loyalty and obedience would be divided and he would fail altogether in his duty to one or the other. No one can serve the true God and at the same time be supremely engaged in loving the world or serving any selfish interests. Our devotion to the world and the things of the world will interfere with our commitment to God. “Mammon” means or refers to money, riches, wealth and because of man’s sinful tendency to love and trust in riches, it was eventually considered as an idol - a substitute for the true God. How dangerous it is to set our hearts upon riches, seeing how easy it is for men to make it a god! “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:9,10). When money becomes an idol master, a god of the heart, the true God is forsaken and man becomes destitute, without God in this world and without hope in eternity. 2. THE IMPLICATION OF SERVING GOD AS MASTER Matthew 6:24; Luke 4:5-8; Malachi 1:6; Deuteronomy 10:12; 13:1-4; 30:20; Joshua 22:5; 2 Chronicles 34:33; 2 Timothy 2:19-21; Hebrews 12:28. “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.” From the text, we learn what it means to serve God as Master. The Lord uses the words “serve”, “love” and “hold to.” To serve God is to love Him and to hold to Him or to cleave to Him. To serve God is to love Him, not in words only but in deed and in truth. He who serves God truly and acceptably must serve Him wholeheartedly. God will not permit a rival to share the throne of our heart with Him. If our hearts are divided, He will say, “they have not wholly followed Me” (Numbers 32:11). Our text also makes it clear that to serve God is to “hold to” Him or to cleave unto Him, that is, to cleave unto Him with a perpetual covenant in all conditions and situations in life. It is to hold to Him and His commandments, even when those commandments are not pleasing to the flesh. It is to give God the first place in our affection and devotion, preserving and presenting our hearts to Him as sacred ground on which neither mammon nor the world is allowed to intrude or trespass. God must be Master and Lord of all. 3. THE IMPIETY OF SERVING GOD AND MAMMON Matthew 6:24; 2 Kings 17:7-9,25,33,34; Luke 16:13;1 Timothy 6:9,10; Mark 10:17,21-24; James 4:4; Philippians 3:17-21; 1 John 2:15-17; Colossians 3:1-5. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” In broad sense, mammon is whatever seeks to compete with God in our lives -riches, the world or whoever wants to displace God in our lives and be another master! The prince of this world is ever seeking to be lord and master of the souls of men. The world is also seeking control of our hearts and affection. The two masters, God and mammon, are diametrically opposed to each other. ‘ The one commands you to walk by faith, the other to walk by sight; the one to set your affection on things above, the other to set it on things that are on the earth; the one to look at the things unseen and eternal, the other to look at the things seen and temporal; the one to be content with such things as ye have, the other to enlarge your desires as hell; the one to seek happiness in the Creator, the other to seek happiness in the creature’. Truly, you cannot serve these two contradictory masters. If you love one, you must hate the other. If you hold to and cleave to one, you must despise and leave the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 13:03:14 +0000
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