October 27, 2024 - Two Masters
Notes
Transcript
Imagine: The Cleveland Browns have 2 offensive coordinators, EACH ONE calling plays into the huddle.
And the Quarterback - deciding that they will run - BOTH plays at once.
Would that work?
NO - why?
We’ll find out why - a bit later
Imagine: You’re a member of an orchestra…playing the - FRENCH HORN…and you find out that there will be 2 conductors CONDUCTING the orchestra that night for the concert.
And you’re TOLD - that you must follow EACH conductor (each doing different things)
Would that work?
NO - why?
We’ll find out a bit later...
LAST WEEK - we saw how God had CAST Israel OUT of His sight...
and we looked at the various SINS (reasons) as to WHY God ended up casting them OUT...
Out of Samaria - and into Assyria.
That LAUNDRY list of sins - that caused God to RESPOND.
TODAY we will see WHERE those sins SPRANG FORTH from…
A PROBLEM - that I know each of US deals with today…in our own lives.
Let’s get to our text today - back to chapter 17
24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.
25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.”
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.”
28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.
30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.
33 So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.
So do we have the story?
In God’s judgment - Samaria is OVERRUN by Assyria...
And the king of Assyria ends up POPULATING Samaria with people from ALL OVER!
These people were NOT Israelites…and SO....
25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
Remember what the FEAR of the Lord is?
the beginning of - - Wisdom...
Well - they didn’t FEAR the Lord...
So God responds...
Sends LIONS...
So the king of Assyria RESPONDs...
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.”
So this priest comes and TEACHES the people - the Law of God...
28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
OK - they are TAUGHT how to fear the Lord...
what happens?
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.
CONCLUSION?
33 So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.
And so HERE it IS!
They FEARED the Lord but ALSO - served their OWN gods.
And this is a TEXTBOOK case of - TWO MASTERS on the THROWN
What do we know about what the BIBLE says about - Two Masters?
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
So JESUS here…speaks to us about - 2 MASTERS...
You cannot SERVE 2 masters...
But these PEOPLE in our text today - LIVED this way!
NOW - what does this SERVICE entail?
I want us to DISSECT this MINDSET...
SLIDE: Pathways of Serving a Master: Profession & Practice
Pathways of Serving a Master
Pathways of Serving a Master
Examples of Professing God
Examples of Practicing that Profession
If we were to just take - PROFESSION to start - we should know that part of SERVING the One True God - is PROFESSING HIM!
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Profession as a means of worship - serving - declaring
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
And listen to what Jesus Himself said...
32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
ALL of these verses - and MANY MORE - the CALL goes out to US...
PROFESS - Jesus!
it’s A PART of - Serving the Master
And think about it!...
Jesus Himself - CAME TO HUMANITY - and did what?
He professed - GOD...
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
Jesus here - PROFESSING God!
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus HERE - professing God the Father...
30 I and the Father are one.”
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
Jesus = IN HIS HUMANITY - gives us THE BEST of examples to follow...
He Himself - PROFESSED God.
Jesus displaying for us - a PIECE of what it looks like to SERVE God as our Master!
And so - OF COURSE - we TOO - are called to do the same - IF we’re going to Serve our Master - Jesus!
BUT - THAT’S NOT the only SIDE to SERVING a MASTER!
SLIDE: Pathways of Serving a Master: Profession & Practice
Pathways of Serving a Master
Pathways of Serving a Master
the OTHER side is - PRACTICE!
How many of you grew up either...
Playing a sport..
…an instrument
…maybe drama club
…cheerleadering
Whatever it is - WHAT IS REQUIRED?
PRACTICE
QUESTION: If someone came to me and said - Hey, I’d like to play guitar in the praiseband…and I asked them - OH, you play guitar?
And they said - OH, No!
My response would be - Ok, well if you’re feeling called to PLAY the guitar, and you DON’T KNOW HOW to play the guitar, then you MUST ALSO be called to - - practice the guitar.
Go practice a lot- and then come back.
Well what if - 6 months later that guy comes back and he SAYS - Ok, I’ve practiced a lot - can I play for you.
And he proceeds to pick up the guitar - UPSIDE DOWN - and he tries to play it....and it sounds awful…?
What would my conclusion be?
He NEVER practiced!
His LIPS SAID ONE THING (I practiced)
But HIS ACTIONS PROVED OTHERWISE (Never practiced)
If we never PRACTICE what we PROFESS…then what does that lead to?
14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
We’re called to PRACTICE these things…if we wanna SERVE God as our Master...
And even more specifically...
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Know this:
SLIDE:
Profession without practice is like the words of Christ without the cross of Christ.
get it?
NOW - How about the people in our text today…?
SLIDE: Their Profession: We fear the Lord
Their Profession
Their Profession
Back to our text...
2 Kings 17:33 (ESV)
33 So they feared the Lord...
It says here that they feared the lord...
but do you remember WHERE this fear came from?
25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.”
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.”
28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
- And so we see how this FEAR came to be!
Lions came and began TERRORIZING the people - KILLING the people!
And so this priest is sent in to the people - to TEACH them to FEAR the Lord!
Initially - this FEAR - was BIRTHED by - ultimately - a FEAR of - the grave.
DEATH
The lions that came into the cities - began killing the people - and so - the FEAR that arose - was directed at - the GRAVE...
They were afraid to DIE!
NOW - another way to say that we are AFRAID to DIE - is...
We HATE Death!
With THAT SAID - let’s think through something.
*How many of you - HATE - BEING OUT OF SHAPE?
OK - so those of you who HATE being out of shape…KEEP YOUR HANDS RAISED.
Next question - How many of YOU - who HATE being out of shape - LOVE running and dieting and working OUT??
Wait - but you said that you HATE being out of shape.
AND - as we know - running, dieting, and working out is the REMEDY to being out of shape!
Do you see what that reveals??
It reveals this...
SLIDE:
Hating something doesn’t mean that we automatically love the remedy to the thing that we hate.
Back to our text...
The people in the cities of Samaria - IN OUR text today...
They HATED death!
They HATED the lions because they HATED the GRAVE!
Ok, well did that mean they Automatically LOVED the LORD, who brought the LIONS TO THEM?
NO - Hating something doesn’t mean we love the REMEDY - to that thing.
The FEAR of these people - was a FEAR of the grave…ultimately.
And so their FEAR of the Lord - was no different than their fear of...
a tornado...
a hurricane
a disease...
Where FOR US - our fear of the Lord is supposed to be different.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Our FEAR isn’t supposed to be the same kind of fear we have in...
Man
Fire
Disease
Our fear should have a SPIRITUAL FLAVOR to it.
We’re called to fear the one who can DESTROY the SOUL!… not just the BODY
And so the PEOPLE - they needed to LEARN - HOW to fear the Lord.
And SO - a PRIEST was called in - to help TEACH the people how to fear the Lord...
Which means - they would need to LEARN ABOUT God -
Who He was
His character
His Sovereignty
And in LEARNING these things - they could develop a correct kind of FEAR for Him!
And so - IN THIS - they began to fear the Lord - but HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW....
LIKE US - their FEAR wasn’t a PERFECT fear...
Meaning - they weren’t PERFECT.
How do we KNOW?
We know by looking at their PRACTICE!
33 So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.
Their Practice
Their Practice
They feared the Lord - BUT ALSO - served their own gods!
This was their PRACTICE!
They SERVED - Worshiped Other gods...
And they would have had a god for everything....
The sky
The wind
The earth
Goddess Fertility
Love and Beauty
Goddess of Fire
God of the Wild
Goddess of magic
God of Thunder and Storms
And on and on and on
So think thru it - they worshiped - EVERY [THING] - - BUT the TRUE God!
And again - later on in scripture - we find Jesus WARN us - about doing this very thing!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
And Jesus here - gives us a SPECIFIC example for us to LEARN FROM...
He says - you cannot serve God and MONEY.
But what did He MEAN here?
He’s saying - PICK ANYTHING in ALL of CREATION...
You CANNOT serve God - and THAT THING!!
The people in our text today - they EXPERIENCED the BLESSINGS of God in their lives...
That’s WHY they had SO MANY gods...
They WORSHIPED ALL these different ASPECTS of creation...
Well - Romans 1 tells us all about that...
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
And what did this LEAD to?
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
They - - SERVED the creature...
They served OTHER - Gods!
And FOR US - - Money is - KING
It’s HARD not to worship money… it’s NOT EASY to keep it under OUR control!
Instead of IT controlling us!
It’s not EASY to WIELD our MONEY in a WAY to PUT on DISPLAY the worth of JESUS - USING our money!
it’s not EASY to INVEST in things that SEEMINGLY yield no return.
That’s why Jesus went right for the JUGULAR..when He said...
You cannot serve God and MONEY!
And YET - LIKE the people in our text - and the world around US - sometimes we think otherwise!
AND YET...
11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
And i don't think we truly believe this...
"Oh how much EASIER life would be - with MONEY!"
Oh SO much easier...
But would it?
When we say 'LIFE' would be easier....what do we mean by 'LIFE'...
If we BELIEVE that LIFE would be easier if we just had a ton of money...then we're NOT thinking about the LIFE that matters...
Our thinking is OFF
5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
SO MANY don't get it.
And so OFTEN - it takes us RECALIBRATING our MINDS...
Or as the Bible says - RENEWING our minds...
What’s one way to RENEW our minds in this?
SLIDE:
Replace the “what if’s” of life with “even if”.
An article I once read said this...
We all face a staggering array of “what ifs.” Some are minor issues while others have life-altering repercussions.
What if my child dies? What if I get cancer? What if my spouse leaves me?
The uncomfortable truth is, any of those things could happen. No one is free from tragedy or pain. There are no guarantees of an easy life. For any of us. Ever.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not guaranteed deliverance.
Just before Nebuchadnezzar delivered them to the fire, they offered some of the most courageous words ever spoken.
“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it . . . But even if he does not, we want you to know that we will not serve your gods . . . ” (Daniel 3:17–18).
Even if.
Even if the worst happens, God’s grace is sufficient.
They were satisfied knowing that “even if” the worst happened, God would take care of them.
AND YET -
there are MANY people who come to church Sunday after Sunday, worshipping a god that they've created in their minds...
ONE that allows them to both SERVE the God of the Bible AND to serve Money, or health...or whatever other blessings flow from God.
See, we conjure up these FALSE gods in our minds...and we JUSTIFY ourselves BEFORE God as we serve these OTHER false gods...
See, so many people's WORSHIP is GROUNDED in their DESIRE FOR RICHES...do the formula and you'll get rich
So many people's worship is GROUNDED in their desire to be HEALTHY...or FAMOUS...
OR...to have the BEST POSSESSIONS...
Their worship is GROUNDED in these desires...SO MUCH SO, that if those things DON'T come...
...then they WAR Against God...
They turn from GOD because He didn't obey THEIR command!
And in this, we see that they are utterly blind to what the GOSPEL truly is.
They’re blind to EVEN the blessings of the Gospel!
They need to know the FULL Gospel of God...
And YET - EVEN to US...
WE often need to be reminded that EVEN WE settle for the GOSPEL we EMBRACE!
Yep - i said it.
SLIDE:
As believers, it’s very likely that we have settled for less, in our embrace of the Gospel.
What do I mean?
- The GOOD news of the Gospel is not merely:
eternal life
forgiveness
redemption
INSTEAD - the good news pushes through ALL of these things - to GOD...
We have eternal life - to get GOD
We receive forgiveness - TO BRING US to GOD
We're redeemed - TO GET us to God!
HE IS OUR REWARD!
If you want your BEST life now - then go for it...and guess what - This side of the grave WILL be your best LIFE...
But WE - we believers - we’re called to - PRACTICE what we profess.
We’re called to LIVE OUT - the LOVE we claim to have - for Jesus.
What have we seen today...
SUMMARY
SLIDE: Two Masters: We Cannot Serve God and Anything Else
Two Masters
Two Masters
The people in our text today - they FEARED the Lord BUT ALSO served their own gods.
they were trying to SERVE 2 Masters...
And they came up short.
What’s OUR call?
SLIDE: One Master: We Serve through Profession and Practice
One Master
One Master
Each one necessary!
Think about it -
Who are the people that have the PROFESSION - but no PRACTICE?
Those are the people that Come to church...
sing the songs
eat the food
play the part
But in their daily living - they serve other gods.
How about the OTHER side - those who have the PRACTICE but no PROFESSION?
Those people - are the people who spend their LIVES trying to be good enough to get to heaven.
People who are TRUSTING in their works to get them to God.
Think about it - they don’t ACTUALLY profess Jesus as their ALL-POWERFUL savior...
Why - because they believe THEY THEMSELVES need to add their OWN work into the equation!
The Pharisees were a great example of this.
Their OUTSIDES were - white-washed tombs…but there was NO PROFESSION of Jesus!
They LOOKED religious - but their HEARTS were far from God!
May WE - PROFESS JESUS....to all around us...
AND - may we practice what we profess!
Let’s pray!
