Beloved, I am glad to share with you today on the next window of the temple of truth, namely, total service. This is service beside a master, for the Lord Jesus tells us in Matthew 6.24 : “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Recall that Mamon is a god personifying wealth. But the thirst for possession destroys lucidity and creates an allegiance close to idolatry. The disciple of Jesus must therefore learn to value what remains and to see what is essential; therefore to choose between God and money. Because if God bless us with riches, it is so that we can use this money to act towards our neighbor, the end result being that we are loving him or her like ourselves.
Indeed, Mamon is the wealth that comes from trade, business, and not hereditary goods; it is therefore the spirit of lucre that Jesus Christ condemns, this thirst to acquire, to enrich oneself which, born of the lust and discontent of his fate, pushes the man to dedicate all his forces and his thoughts and risk thereby guilty acts. Mamon is wealth more than desire, it is the pursuit of wealth; it is the evil of our century.
So, having money and belongings is not a sin, but you only have to become master of your money; so that this wealth is rather at your service.
I. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
Not serving two masters is an expression which meaning is clear. In fact, the Savior appearing in the midst of men with the authority of God himself, says that they must decide themselves and be for him, or against him: that is why there is no room for neutrality that would only be guilty of indifference. And whoever does not gather with him scatters.
We see there the image of the shepherd who gathers his flock: John 10.13-16: ” 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ” John 11.5 2: ” and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
For what the adversaries scattered instead of assembling were the souls that the Lord Jesus brought back to the Lord God to save them. He wants to engage his listeners to unite with him in the fight against Satan, declaring that in the presence of this struggle, they cannot remain neutral. But he has in view the Jewish exorcists, who were doing a work opposed to his, as long as they did not join him. Finally, he applies his sentence to the Pharisees. And this opinion is most in keeping with the context of the time.
It is therefore to his adversaries, and especially to their blasphemous accusation, that the Lord Jesus answers in all his speech; and it is to them that he addresses himself directly. Moreover, finding that they were against him, he breaks openly with them and separates his cause from theirs. Then he reminds us in Matthew 21.43 : “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. That’s why this sentence that he takes hold true at all times and in all places, in his application to all adversaries of the Savior and in his work.
II. SERVE THE LORD GOD ALONE
- The whole service is required by the Lord : the following verses remind us of it.
1 Sam 7.3 : “So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
2 Chr 15.15 : “All Judah rejoiced in this oath, for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought the LORD of their own free will, and found it, and the LORD gave them rest on every side. “
Matt 4.10 “Jesus said to him, Depart, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him alone.” ; Luke 16.13 : “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
- Neutrality is impossible in the spiritual domain:
Matt 12.30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”
Mark 9.40 “Who is not against us is for us.”
Indeed, Jesus Christ affirms: “He who is not against us is for us.” For this man who drives out demons is not against him and his disciples, since he does so in the name of Jesus; he bows to Jesus and begins to draw near to him; he will soon be connected with him, since one can not remain neutral in the presence of the Savior. He wants his disciples to stop this good movement by their hasty and intolerant intervention.
The Lord Jesus makes this statement on the occasion of the Jewish exorcists, who apparently were working on the same work as him: fighting Satan. But as they did in a spirit quite different from his, this divergence was to bring them to a declared hostility: Luke 11:23: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. “
So to attribute to the devil the works of the Savior, it was the worst way to declare oneself against him. It was also to disperse the good he did to souls and souls themselves, by keeping them away from him: Luke 16.13: “No servant can serve two masters. For where he will hate the one and love the other; where he will cling to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mamon. “
Looking closely at the position of the unfaithful steward, who claimed to be able to serve two lords, his master, and the money, we understand that he was in error. For the Lord Jesus declares that this is morally impossible, and that whoever wants to serve Mamon, excludes himself from the service of God.
- Avoiding the madness of indecision is a duty, by virtue of the verses below.
Luke 9.62 “Jesus answered him,” Everyone who puts his hand to the plow, and looks back, is not peculiar to the kingdom of God.” James 1.8 ” is an unresolved man, inconstant in all his ways.” James 4.8 “Come near to God, and he will come near you. Clean your hands, sinners; purify your hearts, unresolved men.”; 1 Kings 18.21 “And Elijah came near to all the people, and said, How long will you huddle on both sides? If the Lord is God, go after him; if it’s Baal, go after him! The people did not answer him”. 2 Kings 17.41 “These nations feared Jehovah, and served their images; and their children and the children of their children till this day do what their fathers did. ” Hosea 10.2 “Their hearts are divided: they will bear the pain. The Lord will overthrow their altars, and destroy their statues.”
- Warning against the shared soul:
2 Kings 17.33 “So they feared the LORD, and served their gods at the same time according to the custom of the nations whence they had been transported.” Luke 16.13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
1 Cor 10.21″ You can not drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons; you can not partake of the Lord’s table, and the table of demons. ” James 4.8 “Come near to God, and he will come near you. Clean your hands, sinners; purify your hearts, unresolved men. “
- Examples of tepidity in the service:
Joos : 2 Kings 13.18-19 “Elisha said again, Take the arrows. And he took them. Elisha said to the king of Israel, Strike against the ground. And he knocked three times, and stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him, and said, It was necessary to strike five or six times; then you would have defeated the Syrians until they were exterminated; now thou shalt beat them three times.” 2 Chr 20.33 :” But the high places did not disappear, and the people were not yet firmly attached to the God of their fathers. “
Judah : Jeremiah 3.10 “For all this, the treacherous Judah her sister did not return to me with all her heart; it is with falsity that it did it, saith the LORD. “
- Warning against attachment to the world:
Matt 16.26 “And what would it be for a man to win everyone, if he lost his soul? or, what would a man give in exchange for his soul? ” Luke 21.34 “Take heed to yourselves lest your hearts dwell on the excesses of eating and drinking, and by the cares of life, and this day come on you unexpectedly”; Col 3.2 “Affect the things above, not the things on the earth.”; Titus 2.12 “It teaches us to renounce ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live in the present age according to wisdom, righteousness, and godliness,”; James 4.4 “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
It follows from all the above that we cannot drink the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons; for you can not partake of the Lord’s table, and the table of demons. Indeed, it is useless to win all the money in the world, and lose his soul. It is better to turn your back on the lusts of the world and live in justice and piety. For whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Our prayers are with you in your efforts to follow the Lord Jesus.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me as follows :
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you and ask forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as my Lord and personal Savior. I acknowledge that you died on the cross of Calvary and that you rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me each day to eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal to me and strengthen my heart and my faith so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me in your divine family so that I too can contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all worship, power, and glory, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be glad to respond to your queries and comments as necessary, before sharing with you next week on the next window of the temple of truth, namely trust.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you profusely.
David Feze, Servant of the Lord Almighty.