Latest / End-Time Revival Ministries, USA / Episode 231 - Only One Master
Transcript
- 0:13Speaker 1: Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time
- 0:15Speaker 1: forth and even forevermore. From the rising of the sun
- 0:18Speaker 1: unto the going down of the same. The name of
- 0:23Speaker 1: the Lord is to be praised. Blessed be his name.
- 0:28Speaker 1: Blessed be his name. His name that is above every name.
- 0:32Speaker 1: At that name every knee bows. Every tongue confesses that
- 0:36Speaker 1: Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord. This poor man cried, and
- 0:42Speaker 1: the Lord heard him and delivered him from all of
- 0:45Speaker 1: his fears. The Lord is near unto them who are
- 0:49Speaker 1: of a broken heart, and he saves such as be
- 0:52Speaker 1: of a contrite spirit. We are grateful always to the
- 0:58Speaker 1: Lord our God, our Savior, who redeemed us from all iniquity,
- 1:02Speaker 1: who set our feet upon that rock, established our going,
- 1:06Speaker 1: put a song in In our mouth, praise upon our lips.
- 1:11Speaker 1: He alone is worthy of our praises. We welcome you
- 1:16Speaker 1: once again to this, another edition of End Time Revival
- 1:20Speaker 1: Ministries USA podcast. I am your host, Pastor Al Zachary.
- 1:25Speaker 1: And again, we will, in just a few moments, examine
- 1:30Speaker 1: words from Jesus Christ, our Lord, as we continue, amen,
- 1:35Speaker 1: with the doctrine, with the teaching, with the words from
- 1:40Speaker 1: the Savior himself by which we must live. Amen. By
- 1:45Speaker 1: which we must govern our lives while we are here
- 1:50Speaker 1: in this present world. So we are thankful to the
- 1:53Speaker 1: Lord for coming down from glory. The word was made flesh,
- 1:57Speaker 1: dwelt among us. We beheld his glory, the glory as
- 2:00Speaker 1: of the only begotten of the Father. The Bible tells
- 2:02Speaker 1: us full of grace. and truth. In the beginning was
- 2:05Speaker 1: the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God.
- 2:09Speaker 1: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word,
- 2:13Speaker 1: the Word that was made flesh, the Word that proceeds
- 2:18Speaker 1: from God. And so again, amen, God has spoken. Amen.
- 2:24Speaker 1: We have all the revelation that we need, more than
- 2:27Speaker 1: what we need in order to Amen. Order our lives
- 2:32Speaker 1: in holiness and righteousness right here in this present world.
- 2:39Speaker 1: All right. So today our focus is going to be
- 2:41Speaker 1: again in the Gospel of Matthew, Sermon on the Mount. Amen.
- 2:46Speaker 1: The words of Jesus. And we'll get to that in
- 2:49Speaker 1: just a few moments. Matthew's Gospel, chapter number six, if
- 2:53Speaker 1: you have your Bibles. But again, as always, we thank
- 2:56Speaker 1: each and every one of you who pray for and
- 2:57Speaker 1: or support the work of this ministry. God has always
- 3:02Speaker 1: supplied our needs. Amen. Over the many, many years, over
- 3:07Speaker 1: 20 years, being on radio and now podcasting. Amen. And again,
- 3:14Speaker 1: God has always opened doors and made ways. And we
- 3:16Speaker 1: thank God for each and every one of you who
- 3:18Speaker 1: are subscribers to this podcast. Those of you who pray
- 3:23Speaker 1: for and or support this ministry. Amen. We thank God
- 3:26Speaker 1: for each and every one of you as well. And
- 3:29Speaker 1: so we certainly invite you, if you have not become
- 3:32Speaker 1: a subscriber, to please do so. Amen. And also, by
- 3:36Speaker 1: all means, share it with someone else. As I say,
- 3:41Speaker 1: almost with every podcast, it is our endeavor, our purpose,
- 3:45Speaker 1: our mission, to disseminate the word of God far and wide.
- 3:50Speaker 1: Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke,
- 3:53Speaker 1: exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. We are in the time.
- 3:58Speaker 1: We're in the last of the last days. Men will
- 4:00Speaker 1: not want to hear sound doctrine, but we have a
- 4:05Speaker 1: mandate from God. We are on a mission from God
- 4:11Speaker 1: to be found faithful stewards of that which God has
- 4:15Speaker 1: entrusted to us. And so we persevere, amen, faithfully, amen,
- 4:21Speaker 1: trusting that the Holy Spirit, amen, will enable us, will
- 4:25Speaker 1: keep us, and he will watch over his word that
- 4:28Speaker 1: it will perform that which he, amen, has purposed for
- 4:34Speaker 1: it to do. So again, amen. Thank God for each
- 4:38Speaker 1: and every one of you. And before we begin with
- 4:42Speaker 1: our session on today, By the way, the title of
- 4:45Speaker 1: which is Only One Master. Only One Master. We will
- 4:54Speaker 1: open with a brief word of prayer. Father, again, we
- 4:58Speaker 1: are eternally grateful. Ten thousands of tongues will not suffice
- 5:06Speaker 1: to begin to even thank you for the multitude of
- 5:10Speaker 1: your many mercies, new every morning, your great faithfulness, your
- 5:14Speaker 1: loving kindness, your peace, the joy of the Lord that
- 5:17Speaker 1: gives us strength, oh God, the help that comes from you.
- 5:21Speaker 1: You lead us, you guide us, you direct us, you
- 5:23Speaker 1: order our steps. And Lord, you chose us in you
- 5:26Speaker 1: before the foundation of the world that we will be holy,
- 5:29Speaker 1: that we will be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ,
- 5:32Speaker 1: your son. And we know that it is in you
- 5:35Speaker 1: we live, move, and have our being. Thank you, thank you,
- 5:38Speaker 1: thank you. Lord, we pray now and intercede for those
- 5:41Speaker 1: who are outside of the ark of safety, that their
- 5:43Speaker 1: eyes will be opened, their ears will come to hear,
- 5:46Speaker 1: their hearts will be pricked, will come to believe that
- 5:50Speaker 1: you are the Savior, the hope, the Redeemer, the only
- 5:54Speaker 1: mediator between God and man. And they will come running, saying,
- 6:00Speaker 1: what must I do to be saved? Be thou glorified,
- 6:04Speaker 1: be thou magnified. In Jesus' name we pray and give
- 6:07Speaker 1: thanks for all things. Amen and amen. Only one master.
- 6:14Speaker 1: The accumulation of money and possessions in this earthly realm
- 6:17Speaker 1: can become very tricky. And of course, the accumulation of
- 6:24Speaker 1: these material things, indeed, the Bible speaks to this, it
- 6:30Speaker 1: ensnares many a person. The love of money, the Bible
- 6:36Speaker 1: speaks of, the love of money, not money itself, but
- 6:39Speaker 1: the love of money is the root of all evil.
- 6:42Speaker 1: And many people have been ensnared, chasing after, longing after,
- 6:48Speaker 1: lusting for material wealth. The more we accumulate in wealth
- 6:54Speaker 1: in this world, the more we can become influential, respected,
- 7:00Speaker 1: well-respected in certain circles, and also, of course, culturally entrenched
- 7:08Speaker 1: in the ways of this world. Nothing wrong with riches.
- 7:14Speaker 1: Nothing wrong with having things and possessions. Amen. And I've
- 7:19Speaker 1: said this for those of you who may have listened
- 7:21Speaker 1: to me in the past and other podcast radio throughout
- 7:25Speaker 1: my preaching over the years. God is not against wealth.
- 7:29Speaker 1: Some of the wealthiest people who ever lived were godly,
- 7:32Speaker 1: upright people. In the word of God. Some of the
- 7:36Speaker 1: richest people we ever lived. We may have reference to
- 7:39Speaker 1: a couple of them later on. But God is not
- 7:43Speaker 1: against us having things. The problem is we violate many will,
- 7:50Speaker 1: of course. Commandment number one. Thou shall have no other
- 7:54Speaker 1: gods before me. We begin to worship these things. They
- 7:59Speaker 1: become idols. They replace us. in us, in our hearts,
- 8:04Speaker 1: in our minds, the true God of creation who gives us,
- 8:08Speaker 1: by the way, the Bible teaches, the power to get with.
- 8:12Speaker 1: And so never forget where it all emanates from. And
- 8:16Speaker 1: Jesus himself, of course, gives us command, a command concerning
- 8:21Speaker 1: the accumulation of worldly treasures to which we will do
- 8:25Speaker 1: well to take good heed to ourselves while we are pilgrim,
- 8:31Speaker 1: and we're going to speak to this later also. We
- 8:34Speaker 1: are pilgrims and we are strangers here in this world.
- 8:38Speaker 1: We can only serve one master. Only one master. Gospel
- 8:48Speaker 1: of Matthew, if you have your Bibles, I'm going to
- 8:50Speaker 1: be reading from the New King James Version down at
- 8:53Speaker 1: verse number 19. Jesus speaking, do not lay up for
- 9:03Speaker 1: yourselves treasures on earth. That is a command. That is
- 9:11Speaker 1: not a suggestion. That is a command from the lips
- 9:16Speaker 1: of Jesus himself. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures
- 9:25Speaker 1: on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves
- 9:32Speaker 1: break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures
- 9:40Speaker 1: in heaven. That's the elliptical, if you will, or the
- 9:42Speaker 1: other side of the same command. So on the other hand,
- 9:46Speaker 1: we do not lay up down here, but we do
- 9:50Speaker 1: lay up up there, store up in the heavens, in
- 9:56Speaker 1: the heavenly, if you will. Not in the earthly realm,
- 9:59Speaker 1: but in the heavenly realm. realm but lay up for
- 10:01Speaker 1: yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys
- 10:08Speaker 1: and where thieves do not break in and steal very
- 10:14Speaker 1: important verse verse number 21 for where your treasure is there,
- 10:22Speaker 1: your heart will be also. Now, of course, in the
- 10:28Speaker 1: time in which Jesus was speaking these words in this
- 10:32Speaker 1: Eastern culture, amen, the possessions that they had consisted, amen, also,
- 10:41Speaker 1: if you will, in or partly, if you will, of
- 10:47Speaker 1: costly clothing where moths could eventually and would eventually, if
- 10:56Speaker 1: they got to it, destroy those costly raiments, clothing. And thieves,
- 11:06Speaker 1: of course, are always on the prowl, just as their father,
- 11:13Speaker 1: the devil, who is the master of the thieves, They
- 11:17Speaker 1: seek whom they can steal from just as the devil
- 11:21Speaker 1: seeks whom he may devour, victimize, take advantage of. And
- 11:27Speaker 1: of course, in the scriptures, in the Old Testament, we
- 11:29Speaker 1: know about Job, the old patriarch Job, a man who
- 11:33Speaker 1: was victimized by thieves who were under the influence of
- 11:36Speaker 1: the devil, of course, as they took advantage of the
- 11:40Speaker 1: opportunity that was permitted. It was given to them. Remember,
- 11:47Speaker 1: if you're familiar with the Bibles, it was the Lord, amen,
- 11:51Speaker 1: who allowed, who permitted Satan to take these things away
- 11:57Speaker 1: from Job. Job, by the way, again, as I alluded
- 12:00Speaker 1: to earlier, God is not against riches and wealth and possessions.
- 12:04Speaker 1: Job was the richest of all of the men of
- 12:07Speaker 1: the East in his day. No one had more personal authority.
- 12:13Speaker 1: assets than job did no one he was the greatest
- 12:18Speaker 1: the bible says of all of the men amen in
- 12:22Speaker 1: his day nevertheless job feared god he was highly respected
- 12:31Speaker 1: he exude evil and these these were the this by
- 12:34Speaker 1: the way rather is the testimony of god himself concerning
- 12:37Speaker 1: job have you considered my servant job there's none like
- 12:39Speaker 1: him in all the earth a perfect and upright man Again,
- 12:45Speaker 1: it goes to show that it is possible to have
- 12:51Speaker 1: these earthly possessions being blessed by God, being enabled by
- 12:56Speaker 1: God to have them. And yet still have none of
- 13:01Speaker 1: these things as God. You don't worship them. Amen. So Job,
- 13:07Speaker 1: of course, again, pointing back to what Jesus said about thieves. Amen.
- 13:12Speaker 1: The thieves came. took advantage of the opportunity that they
- 13:17Speaker 1: had to steal from Job. Moth and rust are not
- 13:22Speaker 1: satanically controlled by the devil, by the forces of evil,
- 13:26Speaker 1: but their destructiveness, rather, is a byproduct of the fall
- 13:31Speaker 1: of man, amen, when sin entered into the world. This
- 13:36Speaker 1: is why we also have thorns and thistles, amen, that
- 13:39Speaker 1: we have to deal with, and weeds and you know,
- 13:43Speaker 1: all of the other things, the whole of creation, the
- 13:45Speaker 1: Bible speaks of groans and travails, all of creation suffered
- 13:49Speaker 1: in the downfall of man, if you will. And so
- 13:52Speaker 1: now we have in our world, death and decay. So
- 13:57Speaker 1: you can, you know, treasure up and store up and
- 14:00Speaker 1: all of these kinds of things, but decay and death
- 14:05Speaker 1: and destruction is inevitable for all forms of life. as
- 14:11Speaker 1: all of creation, again, is infected by the fall of man.
- 14:19Speaker 1: Wear and tear happens to our clothing, to the shoes
- 14:23Speaker 1: on our feet. Amen. It happens to the vehicles that
- 14:27Speaker 1: we drive, to the houses we live in, and again,
- 14:32Speaker 1: to every other man-made structure or thing that is on
- 14:37Speaker 1: this earth. again, because the whole creation suffers, amen, from
- 14:44Speaker 1: the fall of man. And so, again, so don't, Jesus
- 14:46Speaker 1: said in his teaching very specifically here, do not store
- 14:50Speaker 1: up these earthly things, amen, on earth, amen, but rather
- 14:58Speaker 1: store up in heaven your treasures. Remember, how the disciples,
- 15:05Speaker 1: of course, I'll give you another example, how they marveled
- 15:08Speaker 1: at the beauty of the temple in Jerusalem. And Jesus
- 15:11Speaker 1: took that opportunity to warn them about deception. Let no
- 15:16Speaker 1: one deceive you. Do you see all of these stones?
- 15:19Speaker 1: You see everything? You marvel in all of this. There
- 15:23Speaker 1: should not be left here one stone upon another that
- 15:26Speaker 1: will not be thrown down. And of course, Jesus was
- 15:30Speaker 1: prophesying concerning the destruction of the temple, which happened in A.D. 70.
- 15:35Speaker 1: And so no matter how beautiful, how magnificent, how marvelous,
- 15:39Speaker 1: how big, how tall, anything that man does or constructs or,
- 15:45Speaker 1: you know, can even imagine putting together, amen, it will
- 15:51Speaker 1: not last forever. It is subject to wear and tear,
- 15:58Speaker 1: to corrosion, to destruction. Amen. And so, as the people
- 16:08Speaker 1: of God, knowing that we're only here for a season,
- 16:12Speaker 1: we do not hoard, we are commanded not to hoard
- 16:18Speaker 1: earthly possessions because, again, we are pilgrims and we are
- 16:23Speaker 1: strangers and we are simply passing through this world. This
- 16:29Speaker 1: world is not our home, hoarding, earthly possessions is indicative
- 16:35Speaker 1: of a mind that is set on temporal, carnal things.
- 16:40Speaker 1: It's worldliness. We're talking about things that are non-transferable into
- 16:46Speaker 1: the heavenly realm of eternity where we are going. The
- 16:52Speaker 1: Bible is clear about this. We brought nothing into this
- 16:55Speaker 1: world and the Bible says it is certain that we
- 17:00Speaker 1: carry nothing out. And therefore our minds are to be heavenly.
- 17:04Speaker 1: We have to be looking ahead. Amen. We lay up
- 17:08Speaker 1: for ourselves treasures in heaven. These are the intangible things.
- 17:13Speaker 1: All of our earthly treasures are perishables, perishables, all of them,
- 17:20Speaker 1: all of them, all of them. As a matter of fact,
- 17:22Speaker 1: let me go take you to, for example, a parallel
- 17:27Speaker 1: teaching of Jesus in the gospel of Luke. verses 12,
- 17:30Speaker 1: I mean chapter 12, rather, verses 29 to 34. Luke's Gospel,
- 17:36Speaker 1: chapter 12, verses 29 through 34. Jesus speaks these words. Again,
- 17:42Speaker 1: we're sticking with the words of Jesus. And do not
- 17:45Speaker 1: seek what you should eat or what you should drink,
- 17:50Speaker 1: nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the
- 17:54Speaker 1: nations of the world seek after. And your father knows
- 18:01Speaker 1: that you need these things. So Jesus is teaching, hey,
- 18:05Speaker 1: we're not to live in anxiety. We're not to live
- 18:07Speaker 1: in fear. We're not to worry about... By the way,
- 18:11Speaker 1: let me just pause here. Jesus is not, again, he's
- 18:13Speaker 1: not against us having things, having more than one loaf
- 18:19Speaker 1: of bread at home or food in the pantry, food
- 18:23Speaker 1: in the refrigerator, food in a freezer. He's not teaching
- 18:26Speaker 1: that you cannot and should not have those things. Amen.
- 18:30Speaker 1: And not to seek to feed your family. The Bible
- 18:34Speaker 1: is clear about the teaching of if a man does
- 18:37Speaker 1: not take care of his own house. Amen. He is
- 18:40Speaker 1: worse than an infidel and he's denied the faith. So
- 18:43Speaker 1: Jesus is not teaching that. It's all about the heart.
- 18:47Speaker 1: All of this is all about the heart, where your
- 18:50Speaker 1: heart is. And we'll get to that also in just
- 18:53Speaker 1: a moment. So Jesus said, you're, Father knows that you
- 18:57Speaker 1: have need of these things. But seek the kingdom of God,
- 19:02Speaker 1: verse 31, and all these things shall be added to you.
- 19:07Speaker 1: So there you have it. He says, seek the kingdom. See,
- 19:10Speaker 1: it's priority. He's talking about where your heart is, and
- 19:13Speaker 1: he's talking about where your priorities are. Seek the kingdom first,
- 19:17Speaker 1: and all these things will be added. In other words,
- 19:19Speaker 1: you'll still get those things. You'll get them. He's not
- 19:22Speaker 1: against it. Okay? You'll get it. But where is God?
- 19:26Speaker 1: The priority. Look at verse 32. He says, do not fear,
- 19:30Speaker 1: little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to
- 19:35Speaker 1: give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms.
- 19:41Speaker 1: Provide for yourselves. Provide yourselves, brother, money bags which do
- 19:45Speaker 1: not grow old. Again, this is the intangible. This is
- 19:49Speaker 1: the non transgressive. you know, things not of this world. Amen.
- 19:54Speaker 1: So when Jesus is talking about money bags, he's talking
- 19:56Speaker 1: about riches and treasures again in heaven that do not
- 20:00Speaker 1: grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not
- 20:03Speaker 1: fail where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. verse 34
- 20:10Speaker 1: for where your treasure is there your heart will be
- 20:17Speaker 1: also oh that's huge where our treasure is jesus teaches
- 20:22Speaker 1: there is where our heart will be as well and
- 20:26Speaker 1: again jesus is not nor does the bible teach that
- 20:32Speaker 1: we should not have any any earthly possessions while we
- 20:36Speaker 1: are here but jesus And the scriptures teach again is holding, hoarding,
- 20:44Speaker 1: if you will, these things to heart with a love
- 20:51Speaker 1: affair leading to idolatry. And believe you me, that's where
- 20:55Speaker 1: it will lead to and vanity and excess and all
- 21:00Speaker 1: of that and selfishness and pride. All of that is
- 21:03Speaker 1: where it leads to ultimately. So we are to, as
- 21:07Speaker 1: the people of God, who worship and serve God and
- 21:12Speaker 1: God alone, hold these things loosely. Understanding, first again and foremost,
- 21:20Speaker 1: where they come from and understanding also where we are going. Amen.
- 21:26Speaker 1: And if you understand that, you understand where these things
- 21:29Speaker 1: come from and you understand where you're going, then these
- 21:32Speaker 1: things you understand are not permanent. They're not eternal. and
- 21:39Speaker 1: they're non-transferable. I'm going to a place. I'm going to,
- 21:44Speaker 1: as Abraham was seeking, a city that's not made with hands,
- 21:48Speaker 1: that is eternal in the heavens. And none of these
- 21:51Speaker 1: things that I have in my, amen, possession that came
- 21:55Speaker 1: from God, who has blessed and given me these temporary treasures,
- 22:01Speaker 1: if you will, I can take none of these. I
- 22:04Speaker 1: can take none of these with me. Amen. Amen. Abraham,
- 22:09Speaker 1: the aforementioned Abraham, he was wealthy. Abraham understood it. Again,
- 22:14Speaker 1: the Bible says he looked for a city. Amen. Not
- 22:20Speaker 1: made with hands. Amen. David, David, the great king of Israel. Amen.
- 22:26Speaker 1: He had also great wealth. David, of course, understood it
- 22:32Speaker 1: was non-transferable. Amen. And so did the aforementioned Job that
- 22:37Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier in the text and many others, by
- 22:42Speaker 1: the way, Old Testament, New Testament. They understood that they
- 22:46Speaker 1: brought nothing into this world. And again, as the Apostle
- 22:50Speaker 1: Paul said, it is certain we will carry nothing out
- 22:56Speaker 1: of here. I go back to Matthew chapter six, by
- 22:59Speaker 1: the way, look at the teachings of Jesus as he continues.
- 23:01Speaker 1: I'm going to read a few more verses and we'll
- 23:03Speaker 1: be finishing in just a moment. Listen very carefully. Verse
- 23:06Speaker 1: number 22 of Matthew's gospel, chapter six, the lamp of
- 23:09Speaker 1: the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good,
- 23:14Speaker 1: your whole body will be full of light. But on
- 23:19Speaker 1: the other hand, if your eye is bad or evil,
- 23:22Speaker 1: your whole body will be filled with darkness. If therefore
- 23:27Speaker 1: the light that is in you is darkness. How great is.
- 23:34Speaker 1: Is that darkness? And of course, here Jesus is referring
- 23:37Speaker 1: to spiritual eyesight. Your focus. Again, priority. What do you
- 23:45Speaker 1: long for? What is your purpose? What is your drive?
- 23:48Speaker 1: What is your ambition? What is it that you think about?
- 23:52Speaker 1: Wake up thinking about. Pursue all through the day. Dream
- 23:55Speaker 1: about at night. What are you focused on? Are you
- 23:59Speaker 1: seeking the kingdom first? Again, Jesus said all these other
- 24:03Speaker 1: things will be added to you. But are you a
- 24:06Speaker 1: kingdom seeker first? Is your eye focused on him? Is
- 24:12Speaker 1: it on the light? Amen. If we keep our eyes
- 24:17Speaker 1: and our focus on Jesus, of course, again, who is
- 24:20Speaker 1: the light? That's what he said. I am the light
- 24:24Speaker 1: of the world. You follow me and you won't be
- 24:27Speaker 1: in darkness. So if we keep our focus. If we
- 24:31Speaker 1: keep our eyes fixated on Jesus, on his word, on
- 24:36Speaker 1: his promises, on his teachings, on his doctrine, if you will,
- 24:41Speaker 1: then we will be in the light and the light
- 24:46Speaker 1: will be in us. You see, on the other hand,
- 24:50Speaker 1: eyes not looking to Jesus, not focusing on Jesus, not trusting, believing, obeying,
- 24:58Speaker 1: taking to heart his word. You're going to stumble. You're
- 25:03Speaker 1: going to be in the darkness. So we look to Jesus.
- 25:08Speaker 1: We focus on him. Mark the perfect man and behold
- 25:11Speaker 1: the upright. The Bible tells us for the end of
- 25:13Speaker 1: that man is peace. Amen. So if we don't look
- 25:20Speaker 1: to Jesus and we don't focus on Jesus, you will. Someone,
- 25:26Speaker 1: if you're not looking to Jesus, you will look to
- 25:28Speaker 1: someone or something else. And you will live in darkness.
- 25:35Speaker 1: You will be led by a person who is blind.
- 25:40Speaker 1: And Jesus said, when the blind leads the blind, well,
- 25:42Speaker 1: guess what? They both fall into the ditch. So again,
- 25:47Speaker 1: looking to Jesus, you will be in the light and
- 25:51Speaker 1: the light will be in you. You look to man,
- 25:54Speaker 1: you look to institutions, you look to self, you look
- 25:58Speaker 1: to other gods, so-called gods. other religions, so-called, you're going
- 26:05Speaker 1: to be in darkness. And you cannot, by the way,
- 26:10Speaker 1: combine the two. No man can be focused on Jesus,
- 26:14Speaker 1: looking to Jesus, and looking to, focusing on someone else.
- 26:20Speaker 1: Your eye, the eye has to be focused. There's a focus.
- 26:23Speaker 1: There's an attention. We're not to use this so-called peripheral
- 26:29Speaker 1: vision Turning the head to the left, turning the head
- 26:31Speaker 1: to the right. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
- 26:33Speaker 1: We're going to get to that in due course also
- 26:35Speaker 1: in just a few moments. Amen. So you cannot be
- 26:39Speaker 1: looking to Jesus and someone else. You cannot be looking
- 26:42Speaker 1: to Jesus and something else. It is Jesus and Jesus alone. Now,
- 26:48Speaker 1: where do I get this from? From the very next verse,
- 26:50Speaker 1: verse 24. Look to the text. Listen carefully to what
- 26:55Speaker 1: Jesus teaches. This is where we get the topic of
- 26:57Speaker 1: our session for today. Verse number 24, no one, no one,
- 27:04Speaker 1: let me say that emphatically and I got to repeat
- 27:08Speaker 1: it again. No one, no one, no one, no one,
- 27:12Speaker 1: no one can serve two masters. No one. For either
- 27:23Speaker 1: he will hate the one and love the other or
- 27:28Speaker 1: else Jesus says, he will be loyal to the one
- 27:33Speaker 1: and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
- 27:42Speaker 1: In other words, you cannot serve God and money. Only
- 27:49Speaker 1: one master. Only one master. So for those of us,
- 27:59Speaker 1: to whom the word of God is applicable as servants,
- 28:04Speaker 1: as disciples, as followers, as Christians, as believers, whatever designation
- 28:10Speaker 1: you want to use here, it's all the same. Those
- 28:13Speaker 1: of us who are truly saints, believers, being a disciple, follower, adherent, amen,
- 28:23Speaker 1: to the word of God, to Jesus, calls for exclusive
- 28:28Speaker 1: devotion to Jesus the Christ and his teachings. We cannot
- 28:35Speaker 1: be devoted disciples of Jesus and love the temporal treasures
- 28:40Speaker 1: of this world. No. No, that's idolatry. No, that's a
- 28:46Speaker 1: heart that is divided. Amen. The heart will be on
- 28:51Speaker 1: one or the other to serve. No one, no man
- 28:59Speaker 1: can serve two masters. In other words, Jesus makes it
- 29:05Speaker 1: abundantly clear that we can only have one master. Only
- 29:13Speaker 1: one master. Father, we pray that eyes will be open,
- 29:18Speaker 1: ears will be attuned, and hearts will be changed. Lord,
- 29:22Speaker 1: work a work in us. Keep our eyes focused on you,
- 29:25Speaker 1: open eyes. blinded eyes, that they may see the light,
- 29:29Speaker 1: come into the light. Amen. And be led into that
- 29:33Speaker 1: path of righteousness for your great namesake, for your kingdom. Lord,
- 29:37Speaker 1: we pray and give thanks for all things and we
- 29:39Speaker 1: trust you. word to work and to prosper where you ascended.
- 29:44Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, we pray and give thanks. Amen and amen.