WHO DO YOU SERVE?

WHO DO YOU SSERVE?

Serving the Lord only, forever and ever. (9TH NC3RD JURISDICTIONAL MINISTERS AND WORKERS CONFERANCE)

The year of double-down on our commitment to Christ. Micah 4:5

Matthew 6:19 - 24 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.

Mat 6:22 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.

WHO DO YOU SERVE?

Matthew chapter 6 is a continuation of Jesus’s sermon on the mount that started in Matthew chapter 5. In chapter 6 Jesus addresses giving to the needy. He teaches the disciples how to pray with what is called the Lord’s prayer. Now some call this the disciple’s prayer because Jesus was instructing them how to pray. And that the prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17 is the Lord’s prayer or The High Priestly Prayer. *

The theme of the rest of the chapter is how to find security for the future. Jesus is going to give us some financial advice that will not secure your bank account, or IRA or your CD’s. But his advice will secure your soul in Heaven. Read 19 & 20 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.

In verses 19-20 Jesus contradicts all human advice to provide for a financially secure future. Any type of material treasure on earth can be either destroyed by elements of nature (moth or rust) or stolen by thieves. When He says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,” He is indicating that there is no security in material things. Jesus says that the only investments not subject to loss are treasures in heaven. *

6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. This radical financial policy is based on the underlying principle that where your treasure is, your heart will be also. If your treasure is in a safe-deposit box, then your heart and desire are also there. If your treasures are in heaven, your interests will be centered there. This teaching forces us to decide if Jesus meant what He said. And He did, then we face the question, “What are we going to do with our hearts?” Is it wise to center our affections on the temporal or the eternal? Any wise person knows the answer. 2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

6:22 – 23. 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! Jesus realized that it would be difficult for His followers to see how His unconventional teaching on security for the future could possibly work. So He used an analogy of the human eye to teach a lesson on spiritual sight. He said that the eye is the lamp of the body. It is through the eye that the body receives illumination and can see. If the eye is good, the whole body is flooded with light. But if the eye is bad, then vision is impaired. Instead of light, there is darkness.

The application is this: The good eye belongs to the person whose motives are pure, who has a single desire for God's interests, and who is willing to accept Christ's teachings literally. His whole life is flooded with light. He believes Jesus' words, he forsakes earthly riches, he lays up treasures in heaven, and he knows that this is the only true security. On the other hand, the bad eye belongs to the person who is trying to live for two worlds. He doesn't want to let go of his earthly treasures, yet he wants treasures in heaven too. The teachings of Jesus seem impractical and impossible to him. He lacks clear guidance since he is full of darkness.

Jesus adds the statement that if therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! In other words, if you know that Christ forbids trusting earthly treasures for security, yet you do it anyway, then the teaching you have failed to obey becomes darkness—a very intense form of spiritual blindness.

You cannot see riches in their true perspective.

6:24 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 Pharisees had this problem because their spiritual eyes were diseased (Mat_6:22). With their eyes they were coveting money and wealth. Thus, they were in spiritual darkness. They were slaves to the master of greed, and their desire for money was so great they were failing in their service to their true Master, God. The impossibility of living for God and for money is stated here in terms of masters and slaves. No one can serve two masters. One will eventually take precedence in his loyalty and obedience. So, it is with God and mammon. They present rival claims, and a choice must be made. Either we must put God first and reject the rule of materialism or we must live for temporal things and refuse God's claim on our lives. *

We must make a decision on who we’re going to serve. To not make a decision, is making a decision. David said in Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; In other words, we were born with a sin nature. The Apostle Pual wrote in Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; The only way to get in alignment with God is to get saved and to serve Him only. * Joshua 24:15, but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.