Hard to Swallow: The Hardest Sayings of the Sermon on the Mount

Before we start the sermon this morning I would like to encourage you to take notes. If you are not in the habit of taking notes, I would encourage you to start doing so. We will be getting into some deep applications this morning, as we cover our text, and we will be looking at quite a few verses today as well. If you are following the sermon along on the app, you can take notes directly on there and have them for future reference. If you would like to follow along, just follow the instructions on the screen behind me to get the notes for this sermon.

But whether it is with pen and paper or on the app, taking notes helps to be able to go back and study things for yourself, as well as look at the context of the verses that are referenced during a sermon or a lesson.

Introduction

We are right in the middle of “everyone is getting sick” season. I just got a message from my mom yesterday telling me that she has the flu. This is on top of her normal health issues she deals with, along with the kidney stones she has right now. Last time my parents were here, my mom took out one of those pill organizers. When she opened one of the lids and poured out the pills for the day, I wondered how she was going to be able to have room for lunch after taking all those meds! There were little pills, medium sized ones, and a couple that were pretty large.

I remember when I was little and I would get sick, the only kinds of medicine that I could take were liquids and chewable tablets. How many of y’all remember the Dimetapp cold medicine? I don’t know what kind of flavors they have now, but when I was a kid, the only option my mom ever bought was grape. And it did not matter if it was liquid or a chewable tablet, it tasted horrible.

The last time that I remember taking a chewable Dimetapp was at a family camp when I was little. It was gross. But after that, I resolved that I was going to learn how to swallow pills so that I did not have to take chewable tablets anymore.

I had attempted swallowing pills before, but they were bad experiences. The pill would get stuck to my tongue or the inside of my cheek and start to dissolve, and that taste is worse than the grape liquid taste! But I started to practice. Now, before you get any weird ideas, I did not go into the medicine cabinet and just start swallowing pills for practice. I practiced on candy, candies like M&Ms and such and eventually moved up to swallowing Jolly Ranchers. And by the time that I had to go to the doctor for some infection or a bad cold, I remember that he asked if I could swallow pills and the relief that I had that I was not going to have to taste the orange flavored amoxicillin, because that is worse than Dimetapp!

I became a pro at taking pills. My parents got us vitamins growing up, and I remember being able to finally move from the Flintstones chewables to the pill for of vitamins. But I remember one time, I don’t know exactly what was wrong with me, but I had to take some medicine for a little while, and this particular prescription was not a little pill. It was gigantic horse pill! Who here remembers their first encounter with a gigantic pill they had to take?

The first few times I tried taking one was difficult. It was about the size of a jolly rancher, but oval, not square. But the thing is, it was not coated very well, and if a Jolly Rancher gets stuck on your tongue as you try to swallow it, the worst that happens is that you are left with a green apple or watermelon taste in your mouth. This particular pill left a horribly bitter taste. For a while, I had to break it in half to take it. Those were hard pills to swallow.

But even though they were hard to swallow, they were necessary for my well-being. Like I said, I don’t remember exactly what the particular reason for me having to take those pills, but I do remember this: I was not particularly a sickly kind of child, but I did have asthma pretty badly along with seasonal allergies that were wild, so I regularly took medication for that. If congestion from a cold got bad, it would make my asthma worse. If my allergies got out of hand it would trigger asthma attacks. I got pneumonia as a kid pretty bad as well.

But then, I was also kind of accident prone. I would tore ligaments in both my ankles growing up, and broke my elbow when I was like 9 years old or so. So I was usually taking some kind of medicine for something or another.

Some of these pills, especially some of the antibiotic pills, are huge. I hated taking them, but they were necessary. Had I not taken them, I would have been sick for longer, infections would have caused more damage, etc.

We use this phrase, “a hard pill to swallow” to describe a truth that is uncomfortable but necessary to hear and difficult to accept.

There are truths that Jesus taught that people said were “difficult sayings.”

In our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we now have come to the most difficult sayings of this discourse.

Jesus, from the very beginning of His sermon has been focusing on the hearts of His followers. Remember, this is a sermon preached to His disciples. He has given them instruction on the characteristics of true disciples - the Beatitudes. These beatitudes can only be produced in a heart that is totally given over to the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus has told us that we are to be salt and light, and if our heart is not right, our salt looses is savor and our light is hidden to the world.

Jesus then points out that our hearts must be filled with the righteousness of God, because even the level of righteousness that the Pharisees and Scribes possessed was not enough to enter into the kingdom of God.

After that, Jesus deals with obedience to the law. We are to obey the spirit of the law, the heart of the law. This has only two aspects - love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. And then he gives examples of what following the spirit of the law looks like, and it is very different than just following the letter of the law.

Last week we finished up the first half of chapter 6 in which Jesus dives into our good deeds. We studied about how our good deeds, if not done from a heart that is seeking God’s pleasure, are worthless and unrewardable. Giving, praying, fasting - all of it needs to come from a heart that is seeking God.

If you thought that any of those issues were hard to swallow, let me tell you in the words of BTO’s 1974 hit song, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.

This morning, I would like us to explore what I would consider the hardest truths in the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon I have titled

Hard to Swallow

As you may be able to see there on that slide, we will be in Matthew 6:19-24. You may notice also that most of the verse is marked out. You might say, “Bro, Mike, why on earth would you mark out so many Bible verses?” And though you may never think that you would have the audacity to take a pen to a Bible and mark out verses that are hard to hear, or be like Thomas Jefferson and literally cut out portions of Scripture that did not fit with his world view, I have this as the title slide as an illustration. Too often, Christians are happy to ignore the hard sayings of the Bible. And I am not talking about things we don’t understand; I am talking about things that make us uncomfortable. Deep down, we know we need these truths. Deep down, we know we need to put these truths into practice, but they are hard truths to swallow.

We know that they will ultimately be good for us, but we avoid them because the discomfort and the bitter taste that it will have at first.

If you were to count the words that are marked out in the slide, you would notice that 81% of the passage from Matthew 6:19-24 is marked out. These words are easy enough to say, and they are easy enough to think about in the abstract, but when we actually begin to look at the particulars, these verses present very hard truths about being a disciple.

Let’s go ahead and read through these hard truths together. Matthew 6:19-24

Matthew 6:19–24 KJV 1900

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 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! 24 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.

The theme of this portion of the Sermon on the Mount is the relationship of the Christian to God as his Father. We introduced this theme at the end of August when we were closing up our studies in chapter 5.

Christian, there is nothing more important than this. The secret to Christian living according to our Lord Jesus, is to see ourselves always as children of our Heavenly Father.

We have studied this principle and how it relates to us in the aspect of personal righteousness - our treatment of others, our personal fellowship with God, and our commitment to spiritual growth.

Now, we come to a second aspect - The Christians relationship to the world and its affairs.

This brings us to our first hard to swallow truth of five which I hope to cover today. On a scale of M&Ms to Jolly Ranchers, this first truth is just an M&M.

1. The Christian Life Is a Battle

This is something that I think we all know about, yet do not appreciate fully. There is never a time in which we are not under attack.

It has been said correctly that the Christian fights a spiritual war on three fronts - the flesh, the devil, and the world. And at all times, at least one of these is attacking the Christian. When we looked at giving and praying and fasting, we saw that even as we do our good deeds, our flesh tries works against us, tempting us not to do them, and Satan works against us, trying to tempt us to do those deeds for the wrong reasons.

As we studied Matthew chapter 5 and the first half of chapter 6, we saw that Jesus pointed out the fight against our flesh. We have to put the desires of our flesh to the side if we are to allow the Spirit to perfect the Beatitudes in us. We are to put our flesh to the side so that we are not living in pride as we do our righteous deeds, our good works.

He has also pointed out our fight against the devil. We do this by understanding the correct spirit of the law and fighting against Satan’s distortions of what it means to follow the law. We fight the devil in prayer as we ask God to lead us not into temptation and to deliver us from the evil one.

And now we come to the third front on which a Christian battles - the world. By the world, we of course do not mean the people or even creation, but the philosophies and mindsets of this world that have been permeated with and corrupted completely by sin.

One of the most subtle problems for Christians is the problem of his relationship to the world. Jesus has once again ordered His teachings strategically. From verse 1 until verse 18 of chapter 6, we are taught about personal righteousness. Our relation to others and to the Lord and to our spiritual growth that happens in private.

It is this private preparation that must be had before we can successfully go out and face the world and its philosophies. We prepare in private by praying, fasting, giving, and doing other good things with discretion and for the Lord. But our life is not a private life. There come times throughout the day and throughout the week that we must be in the world.

The world’s philosophies are in line with the philosophies of Satan, and so the world’s goal is to get you down, defeat you, and ruin your spiritual life.

The fight against this world is real and is constant.

The fight against the world takes two main forms. 1) The love of the world, and 2) the anxiety of this world. Today, we deal with the topic of fighting the love of the world.

Remember, the theme of this part of the Sermon on the Mount is our relationship to God as our Father, and Jesus addresses the love of the world in this context. This principle governs everything. Again, we must not think of this teaching as simply a set of rules and regulations.

The rest of our hard to swallow truths come to us in our text in the form of Commands and Warnings.

2. Don’t Store Up Treasures on Earth for Yourself

This is such a hard one, because this is naturally what our flesh wants to do. It wants to do this because our flesh has the mindset of the world, which is, “Get as much as you can of what pleases you.” This worldly mentality is sinful, and as long as we live in this world, our sinful nature, our flesh, will hold a worldly outlook on life. But look at what Matthew 6:19 says.

Matthew 6:19 KJV 1900

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

One of the things we need to make sure is that we do not interpret this verse only in the sense of money. Jesus did not say, “Lay not up for yourselves money on earth,” He said, “treasures.” It includes money, but it means something so much more important. The first thing we must understand is that Jesus is not concerned about our possessions, but about our attitude toward our possessions.

There is nothing wrong with having wealth. The danger lies in our attitude toward wealth and possessions. This is a verse that deals with the wealthiest of disciples all the way to the poorest of disciples, because just like in previous parts of this sermon, Jesus is not only speaking about physical possession and our attitudes toward them, but He is dealing with our whole attitude toward life in this world.

This is a command against getting the principal part of our satisfaction in life from the things of this world. This is Jesus’ warning against confining our ambitions, our interests, and our hopes to this life. Poor people need this warning exactly as much as rich people do.

We all have treasures. It may not be money. Treasures come in many forms: husbands, wives, children, friends, accomplishments, goals and ambitions, careers, school, recreation. It may be a gift that someone gave you regardless of the monetary value. It may be your house, your car, your collection of baseball cards. Whatever it is, these are the things that Jesus is warning about, and not so much the things, but our attitude toward them.

Here the possibilities are endless. We are probably familiar with the verse that warns us not to love money, and we are careful to say that we do not love money. But what is our attitude toward honor, status, position?

What does it mean to “lay up” treasures upon this earth? We could take it at face value and do what many have done without considering the context of Scripture and say that it means we are to not have any physical possession outside of what it takes for us to survive. But then, how would you explain Abraham, Job, David, Solomon, and so many other that God blessed with riches and cattle and power? No, the command here is not to get rid of things that are not essential for our survival, the command is for us to avoid pursuing things that center themselves only on this world.

Don’t spend your time, energy, and money on chasing things that do not last.’

Another hard to swallow truth:

3. Nothing of This World Will Give Lasting Satisfaction

The Rolling Stones hit on the head when they sang, I Can’t Get No Satisfaction as the singer realizes that all that his world is offering cannot bring him satisfaction. The conclusion, unfortunately, that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards came to was that there is no satisfaction in this world.

And partially, they were correct. Focusing on getting things and getting women and increasing in knowledge is as vain and unsatisfactory now as it was for Solomon when he wrote the same thing in the book of Ecclesiastes. Why? Because in the end, everything earthly treasure is perishable.

Matthew 6:19 KJV 1900

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

No matter your treasure, it will not last nor will the satisfaction that it brings last.

Jesus puts it this way in John 6:27

John 6:27 KJV 1900

27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Whatever form your treasure takes, the principle is the the same, and it is the principle that matters - do not waste your life chasing things, working for things that will not last. That is the negative side of the instruction. “Don’t lay up treasures upon this earth.” But the Lord has another command, this time it takes a positive form.

Matthew 6:20 KJV 1900

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

4. (Do) Store Up Treasures in Heaven

Well, how do we do that? Te principle that we see elsewhere in the Bible is that we are to use our money, possessions, and positions here to lay up treasures in Heaven. If you have treasures - abilities, opportunities, money, positions, status, etc., use it for God’s Kingdom.

1 Timothy 6:17–19 KJV 1900

17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate [willing to be generous and sociable]; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

We should use our treasures on earth for the Kingdom of Heaven, and in that way, can lay a hold on eternal life. That phrase does not indicate that we can earn or purchase eternal life, Paul is writing to Timothy a set of instructions for wealthy Christians, those that are already saved. This is not an encouragement for them to try to earn or even keep their salvation, but in being willing to distribute and communicate their wealth, as Paul puts it, we are able to be active participants in eternal life.

We stop being passive saved people and turn into active saved people. When Paul writes to the Philippians he tells them something similar when he says in Philippians 2:12 to “work out their salvation.”

Philippians 2:12 KJV 1900

12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

He is not telling them to work for salvation or work to stay saved, he is reminding them that they as saved individuals, they have a responsibility to their Savior and to the Kingdom to which they belong.

We are familiar with Ephesians 2:8-9 that says

Ephesians 2:8–10 KJV 1900

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

But we often forget about verse 10.

Ephesians 2:8–10 KJV 1900

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We are created in Christ Jesus unto, for the purpose of, good works. Do those good works. You were not saved so that you can sit in a pew on Sunday, listen to a sermon, gain some knowledge, and go home and wait to do it again next week. God saved you and has some stuff that you need to be doing. Be an active participant in His kingdom now that you are saved.

That is how you store up treasures in heaven. Use what God has given you to be an impact, not for yourself, but for His kingdom.

Why? The answer is not, “Because treasures in heaven do last and cannot be corrupted,” though that is an incentive. The ultimate reason lies in the theme of this chapter - Because we have a relationship with God as our Father. He is the only one that matters. Above all, His glory matters the most, His kingdom matters the most, and His approval matters the most.

What made Abraham willing to sacrifice Isaac? Made Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego willing to lay their own lives down in defiance of a king? What made Daniel willing to be ripped apart by lions? Though they were rich, though they were powerful, though each of these men had possessions, positions, goals, and varying treasures, none of them viewed their earthly situations or goals as greater than God’s glory.

If you are saved, this statement is true of you:

I am a child of the Father placed here for His purpose, not for myself.

You did not bring yourself to life; you didn’t choose to be born. The one who created you did so with a purpose. You didn’t save yourself, nor do you contribute anything to the security of your salvation.

The one who saved you saved you with a purpose, and that purpose is not your satisfaction, your comfort, your goals, your stuff, your house, your promotions, or your preferences. He saved you for His glory.

And it is high time that Christians take that pill and swallow it.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said this in his commentary of these verses:

Regarding myself as one who has this great privilege of being a caretaker for God, I do not cling to these things. They do not become the center of my life and existence. I do not live for them or dwell upon them constantly in my mind; they do not absorb my life. (SLIDE change)

On the contrary, I hold them loosely; I am in a state of blessed detachment ment from them. I am not governed by them; rather do I govern them; and as I do this I am steadily securing, and safely laying up for myself, `treasures in heaven’.

So now the question becomes...

How Do I Lay Up Treasures in Heaven?

Well, remembering the theme of this part of the Sermon on the Mount which is the relationship of Christians to God as our Father, we can discuss the different realms of our lives and the storing up of treasures in heaven.

Home

Take time to disciple your family. Intentionally talk about God. Remember, discipleship doesn’t just involve reading a family devotion together. It involves talking to your kids about life through the lens of Scripture. It involves dealing with problems in the home in a godly manner.

Parents, it involves apologizing to spouse or kids when you have handled things in an ungodly manner, whether that was losing your temper, being dishonest, or neglecting the physical, emotional, or spiritual needs of your family. Treat you family with the same grace that God treats you. He is our example of parenting.

Make sure that when you receive blessings you thank God together as a family.

Public Life

Here you could lay up treasures in heaven in many different ways. Witnessing to others and inviting people to church are probably one of the first ways that Christians think about when the topic arises of storing up treasures in heaven in the public arena. But that is not the only way we do this. Remember, we are to be salt and light at all times wherever we go. Simply being mindful that God is our Father wherever we go, and that we exist for His glory, keeping those two things at the center of our minds will help us to truly be salt and light and not just try to behave like salt and light.

The way you approach the person that is making your coffee at Scooters, the way you approach the gas station attendant, the way you drive down the highway and treat other motorists - be salt and light. Remember who you are. You are the son, the daughter of God.

Workplace

Work diligently and with integrity. Remember that you are a representative of your Heavenly Father, and that not only what you do reflects on Him, but how you do it too. Don’t engage in speaking evil against your bosses or coworkers. Instead, engage in prayer for them.

Show genuine interest in your coworkers’ lives. Make real connections with others. Listen to them, support them during difficult times. Plant seeds that will eventually lead to opportunities to share the Gospel.

Stand up for what is right, even if that costs you status or promotions.

Find other Christians and disciple each other.

Church

Engage with your church! Get here a little early; fellowship with others; join others in praying for the services on Sunday morning here in this side area. Find a ministry where you can serve. Find other members and be active in each others lives.

Come to the services, the gatherings of this spiritual family. I don’t know if some of y’all know this or not, but we have services on Wednesday evenings too. Come and use your spiritual gifts here to promote unity and growth among the church. Disciple other Christians and be willing and available to be discipled by others.

Stay for Life Groups. On that note, I don’t know why so many people leave before Life Group… Stay for an extra 30 minutes to listen and comment on practical applications for the sermon.

Attend a home group and connect with others as you intentionally explore practical applications to the sermons.

If you are a young adult, go to the activities organized by the Boswells.

If you’re a teen, go to the teen activities. Be active in your Life Groups. Do your HEAR journals for Wednesday evenings, and then be active in the discussions.

Use your talents for the church.

Get involved with the food preparation for Hope CDA.

Donate to the food pantry.

Serve your church by serving in the nursery or toddlers or kids classes.

Why? Because God is our Father, and your spiritual family is important.

Why is it so important that we as members of Good News Baptist Church, we who call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ, take this and put it into practice?

Because...

5. You Cannot Serve Two Masters

We all serve a master. This is hard to think about in the United States, the land of the free. We love our freedom, and we do not give it up easily. But the truth is, we are all servants to a master. Which master depends on you. If you are a Christian, you have a legitimate master who is God. If you are saved, you belong to God by right of purchase. The Bible tells us that we are bought, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and our lives are not our own.

But so often we try to serve other masters whether that be ourselves (and by the way, we make horrible masters for ourselves) or the world (which has no goal other than our personal ruin), or earthly treasures (that decay and perish). Either way, we all are slaves to one master or another.

Matthew 6:24 KJV 1900

24 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.

The word mammon is an Aramaic word. It means treasures. It is a word used to personify wealth, riches, or treasures.

Again, this is a direct warning for Jesus’ disciples. The world serves the world. The people that belong to the kingdom of this world have no choice but to adopt wordly philosophies and worldly ideologies. They serve those various ideologies, and lay up for themselves treasure in this world. They do not have the option to serve God.

No, this warning is particular for Christians, for only Christians can truly serve God. But this is such a huge warning, because what the world is fighting for is our service. Because in serving the world, we will be destroyed. This is a warning against worldliness.

The Subtlety of Worldliness

We think that worldliness is obvious, and though it can turn into something obvious, worldliness in a Christian always starts off very quietly. It is like a covert agent, infiltrating the mind, and as soon as it has a foothold, it quietly begins to to change Godly outlooks on life to worldly outlooks on life.

Worldliness is subtle and pervasive.

Worldliness, we might think, is doing certain things and participating in certain sins. But worldliness is not actions, it is a mindset. It is a general outlook on life, and it will tint everything if we give it a chance.

How do I know if I am serving earthly treasures?

There is a simple test that can answer this question. The test is a question in itself. To what extent are my feeling engaged toward this thing, person, or activity?

How passionate am I about it? How much anger or bitterness swells up at the thought of abandoning or losing it? How attached am I to it?

If you are passionate about something, it will control you. If you are detached from it, you will control it.

Matthew 6:21 KJV 1900

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

I was 15 years old, in tenth grade, and that year we happened to be in the united States. I played on the football team for my high school, the Texas Christian Academy Spartans. We had lost our first game of the season, but won every single one after that during the regular season. Our last game was against the team that we lost to on the first game. They were in our district and were undefeated, so we had to beat them by no less than 12 points to claim the title of district champions and move onto the state playoffs. We won, by a significant amount, somewhere around 30 points. We were solidly in the state playoffs.

Two weeks later, it was time to play the quarter finals. The game was scheduled for a Saturday night. That Saturday night was also the closing night of a conference my church was having. I begged and pleaded with my parents to be allowed to skip the service and go to the game. Chances of me playing were low, as I was just a second stringer, but I needed to be supportive of my team. I had worked so hard to get to where I was, our team had worked hard to get to where we were, and I had already gone to the other three nights of the conference. “I wouldn’t be missing much,” I reasoned with them.

Both of my parents sat me down and wisely explained that there was nothing more important in this world for a Christian than to serve God. They pointed out that I would not be serving God if I participated in that game, and would in fact be missing out on opportunities to serve God, for God to speak to me, and for God to influence my life if I decided to skip out on that service that night.

I wish I could tell you that I was mature. I wish I could say that I realized the overall pettiness of a game compared to a gathering of the body of Christ. But was not mature, and I did not come to that realization that night. I was passionate, I was angry. I had found something that I loved to do and that I was relatively good at. I had made good friends and established a camaraderie with them. I was going to let my coach down. I was going to let my team down. I was let down. “And what happens if we lose?” I asked. “This will be the last opportunity to put on that uniform and play a game of football before we go back to Mexico.”

To which my parents responded, “If your team looses, then that is too bad. What is more important? God or football?” I of course said God, but that was not the truth. I went to the church service and thought the whole time about my real god - my football team. I can’t even remember what the conference was about. My thoughts were only with the game. If we won, we would get to go to the semi-finals. If we won that, we would have a chance to play the finals and win the state championship. I could go back to Mexico and show off my state champ ring to all my friends.

I wish I could say that my team won. But they did not. They lost by a touchdown. I was heartbroken. If only I had been there, surely my presence would have made a difference. I was sad and angry for a long time after that. And the thing is, I would have told you that I was a servant of God, but I was not.

I served mammon. I served my treasure. I served football, and gained nothing but a lousy t-shirt with my team’s name and logo on it.

I thank God for my parents who continued to disciple me at home. They continued to deal with things like this. And they helped me get to a point where I finally not only acknowledged a difficult truth, but I swallowed the pill that is the fact I cannot servre two masters.

The Totalitarianism of the Masters

The reason we cannot serve two masters is because each master is opposed to the other, and each master demands complete obedience and control over your life.

Matthew 6:24 KJV 1900

24 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.

We love to think of God as loving, but we forget He is Sovereign. We like to think of God as merciful, but we ignore that He is righteous. We like to think about God as the one who saved us from condemnation while conveniently forgetting that our salvation is not about our benefit, it is about is serving Him.

God is a totalitarian Lord. He demands our everything. But let me also open your eyes to this other fact, the world is also totalitarian ruler. You cannot serve the world half the time and serve God half the time. The world will not allow it. It demands your all, and it will have you by hook or by crook. You will end up serving the world wholeheartedly. You cannot straddle the fence for long. And you will eventually start loving the world. When you do, you will leave the things of God. And you may not appear to leave godly things, but remember, worldliness is not about what you do or don’t do. It is about the heart just as much as godliness is. And that is why some worldly Christians still appear to be doing godly things. It isn’t for God, it is to keep up appearance. it is in service to an idea that says, I can serve God and the world; I can serve God and myself at the same time, I just have to be careful to do certain things.

There are some worldly Christians here right now. And I don’t know what image pops up in your mind when I say worldly Christian. If you are from a very strict background, then the the image of a worldly Christian be someone who dresses badly, has tattoos, raggedy hair, and doesn’t ever come to church. But looks have nothing to do with it. I want you to look at how Jesus describes the worst of the worldly Christians.

Matthew 6:22–23 KJV 1900

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 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!

Your eye is your outlook on life. There are two types of vision: Single and Evil. Verse 22 deals with the single vision. The Christian who has a single focus, serving God. You worry about serving God for the sake of His glory, and everything you do will be just fine.

But then there is the Evil sight. We could call it double vision, because this person is trying to serve two masters and keep his eyes on both. If you’re eye, your outlook, your philosophy is evil, because you hold to worldly treasures, which is a worldly philosophy, then you are full of darkness. You’re a Christian, but you’re miserable, unsatisfied, unproductive, unable to give light to others because in you is darkness, not the light of Jesus coming out.

But look at the last bit. If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

The world is subtle. It permeates us subtly. And we don’t even realize it. We get caught up in worldly mindsets, and don’t even recognize it. We think that their is light in us. But because of the worldliness, there is just darkness. If what you think is light in you actually is darkness, Jesus exclaims, “How great is that darkness!”

Because you CANNOT serve the world without being completely worldly in your heart.

But if you decide to serve God and do it wholeheartedly, you will learn to hate the world. It will disgust you when people regurgitate sinful and corrupt ideologies. It will sadden you when your friends and family buy into it. It will motivate you to tell others about Jesus. It will motivate you to love the things that God loves. It will motivate you to sacrifice for the things that Jesus sacrificed Himself for.

What did He sacrifice his life for? According to Galatians 1:4, He gave himself to deliver us from this present world, and He gave himself to accomplish the will of the Father.

According to Titus 2:14,

Titus 2:14 KJV 1900

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Jesus gave himself to purify us and make us a people that were zealous, passionate for good works.

According to Ephesians 5:25, Jesus gave himself for the church.

Let me ask you this, what are you sacrificing to be involved in doing good works?

What are you sacrificing in order to resist sin?

What are you sacrificing to show your love for the church?

How do I know if I am serving treasures? How passionate am I about it? How attached am I to it?

How do I know if I am serving God? Same questions. How passionate are you about Him? How attached are you? Do you love the things He loves more than any other thing or person? If you had to give up you earthly passions to gain a better relationship with God, would you give them up?

Would you give up your career, your promotion, your position, your paycheck for God? How badly would it hurt you? How angry would you be? How sad would get?

Would you give up your goals and ideals for you and your family to better serve God?

That thing, that person, that ideology, that house, that car, your free time, your comfort, your job, your ambitions, those goals you have… would you give them all up to to better serve God?

Teens, if you had to give up your love interest for God, would you do it?

if the answer is no, or if it would just hurt too much to do so, then you are serving treasures.

You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot love them both, because to love one is to despise the other. “But I don’t love them; I only like them.” But do your actions say otherwise? When 10AM next Sunday comes, where will you be? Will you be with this body of Christ? Or will you take a break from it to serve your own interests and goals?

You know what, let’s not even go seven days out. Lets go three days out. This Wednesday at 6:30PM, where will you be? Will you be here with us?

You might say, “Mike, that seems awful demanding!” Yup! That is what totalitarian means.

God demands our all.

I know. These are hard pills to swallow. These are difficult sayings to hear. And if you are here today, and God is dealing with these things with you, then it may leave a bitter taste in your mouth for a while.

But in the words of the great Mary Poppins...

A Spoonful of Sugar

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

Let me leave you with this spoonful of sugar, if you will.

These truths may be hard to swallow. Your flesh will fight it. It will send up the gag reflexes. But here is the deal, God is totalitarian, but He also loves you with a perfect love. His glory comes first because He is deserving of it. But as you seek God’s glory and follow His will, and give yourself over to Him completely with no reserves, He leads you in paths of righteousness, he restores your soul, he gives you rest, he gives you satisfaction like nothing else can give, and He does it all for your good.

When he makes a demand of you, leads you in a way that is uncomfortable, or allows something to be taken from you, He does it for your good because he loves you.

The world hates you. Watching a Christian serve the world is like watching a girl go back toe her abusive and manipulative boyfriend. It breaks your heart. You know how its going to end - in tears at best, or at worst in the hospital. But she keeps going back.

It is the same with Christians who serve the world. The world wants nothing more than to ruin the lives of Christians. Christians that adopt worldly mentalities in one area will eventually be consumed by the world. Every demand it makes, every influence it exercises upon you is for your destruction.

But God loves you. He is a loving master. Serve Him. Serve the one that no longer calls you a servant, but a friend. Serve the God that has released you from the chains of the world and of sin, and has not enslaved you with any chains himself, but has adopted you as a son or a daughter.

Invitation

Who are you serving?