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They turn in your Bibles to Matthew 
chapter six, continue to work our way through the gospel, according 
to Matthew, specifically in the Sermon on the Mount. Currently. After Jesus finishes addressing 
religious observance or religious duty versus one to 18 and Matthew 
six, specifically almsgiving and prayer and fasting, he now 
turns his attention to day to day life, day to day activities. 
And he gives three metaphors in verses 19 to 24 with reference 
to loyalty to the kingdom of God Almighty. We've looked at 
the pursuit of heavenly treasure, verses 19 to 21. Last week, we 
saw the necessity of single eyed devotion in verses 22 and 23. This morning, we'll take up undivided 
submission to one master in verse 24. But I'll just read from verse 
19 to the end of the chapter. Do not lay up for yourselves 
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves 
break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures 
in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves 
do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there 
your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. 
If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full 
of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be 
full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that 
is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? No one can 
serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love 
the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise 
the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Therefore, I say to you, do not 
worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, 
nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more 
than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of 
the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, 
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value 
than they? Which of you, by worrying, can 
add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? 
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil 
nor spin. And yet I say to you that even 
Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. 
Now, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is 
and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe 
you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, 
what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? 
For after all these things, the Gentiles seek for your heavenly 
father knows that you need all these things, but seek first 
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be 
added to you. Therefore, do not worry about 
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient 
for the day is its own trouble. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
thank you for this, your word. We thank you for our Lord Jesus 
and his instruction in the Sermon on the Mount. And we pray that 
you would give us ears to hear, hearts to receive your truth 
this morning. Grant us grace to investigate, to examine our 
own hearts, to see these things, to see where our heart or where 
our treasure is, to see where our eye is focused and to see 
who it is that we serve. God, I pray that you would just 
bless us and encourage us and strengthen us. For those who 
are under the bondage and the slavery to sin itself, we pray 
that today would be the day of salvation, that you would free 
them, that you would break those chains and bring them forth, 
cause them to believe on the Lord Jesus and to know the joy 
of everlasting life. Forgive us now for our sin. Forgive 
us for anything and everything that clouds our minds and our 
eyes and our hearts from receiving your truth. And we pray through 
Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. Well, as we have seen in 
the last couple of weeks, where your treasure is, there your 
heart will be also. Jesus gives that example of that 
metaphor in verses 19 to 21. Do not lay up for yourselves 
treasures on earth. He's not saying sell everything 
and go live in a monastery. but rather he is saying your 
focus, your orientation, your chief desire and delight mustn't 
be on earthly things. It mustn't be on those things 
that a man has under a gracious God who has given him a stewardship 
over property. Hold those things with a loose 
grip, but rather pursue those things which are above. Make 
sure that heaven is your focus. Make sure that heaven is your 
orientation. Make sure the things of God are 
what consume you. We saw the same thing with reference 
to the eye. If where your treasure is, there 
your heart will be also. Where you're looking, your body 
will follow. Remember, single-eyed devotion. This one thing I do, Paul says. I reach forward. I forget the 
things that are behind. I press toward the call or the 
goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. He strains. He's persevering. He is focused 
upon that prize. He's able to say in Philippians 
121, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He had a 
single eye devotion upon the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And 
in this third metaphor, Jesus says that that which we value, 
That master that we esteem is the one to whom we give service. So where our treasure is, there 
our hearts will be. Where our eye is looking, there 
our bodies will be. And who we esteem as master and 
Lord, that's where our service will be. So Christ, by way of 
these three metaphors, is impressing upon us that as those who have 
been saved by God's grace through faith, we are to be loyal subjects, 
loyal citizens to the kingdom. Now, I want to say at the outset, 
because it's one of these sermons where the people that are sensitive 
and struggling get really convicted and want to jump ship. And the 
people who are hard-hearted, and who possibly are more in 
danger in a message like this that don't really care. They 
don't really think about it. So I want to say that Jesus' 
point, the idea is not remaining corruption or a struggle to persevere 
in a loyal state. Struggle is good. Struggle is evidence that you're 
in the battle. Struggle is a sign or a manifestation 
that you are in the master's cause. It's not struggle that 
we're dealing with here. It's not struggle that Jesus 
is talking about here. Paul develops this in Romans 
7. Paul highlights this in Galatians 
5. Passages I hope you won't soon forget. The flesh lusts 
against the spirit. The spirit lusts against the 
flesh. These two are contrary to one 
another so that you do not do the things that you wish. The 
spirit comes and checks that remaining corruption. But as 
well, that remaining corruption at times box against the spirit, 
such that the good we want to do, we don't do. And the evil 
we don't want to do, we find ourselves doing. Such that we 
cry out, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from 
this body of death? And then we praise God for our 
Lord Jesus Christ. What is in view in these metaphors 
is an orientation. It is a lifestyle. It is commitment. It is loyalty to a particular 
cause. So it is not remaining corruption 
or a struggle to persevere in a loyal state. The issue is one 
of allegiance to a rival authority or interest. That's what we're 
dealing with here. And remember, brethren, your 
loyalty is not going to get you into heaven. We need to remember 
that always. Whose loyalty gets us into heaven? 
Jesus. Jesus' blood and righteousness. 
Jesus, whose heart was always where it should have been. Jesus, 
whose eye was always singly focused upon the things of God. Jesus, 
whose master was his Father. And Jesus, whose delight was 
to do the will of his father. That's our warrant. That's our 
ground. That's our basis. That is the 
condition for our acceptance with God. It is not our loyalty 
to kingdom principles. It is Christ's loyalty in his 
life and in his death and in his resurrection. That's what 
opens the door of heaven. That's what ushers us into paradise. That's what Luther realized in 
his study of the Book of Romans. When he understood that in the 
gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, 
he says it was then that paradise opened. When he understood that 
the righteousness that Paul is speaking of there is the righteousness 
that God demands and that God supplies in and through the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Our title to heaven, our place 
in that kingdom, is not by our loyalty. That is a consequence, 
that is a result, that is a manifestation of God's having justified us 
freely by His grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. So make sure you're understanding. Don't get confused on conditions 
and consequences. Don't get confused and think 
it's my loyalty that merits my place in the kingdom. No, it's 
Christ's loyalty that gets you into the kingdom. As a result 
of that, you are to persevere. As a result of that, you are 
to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the 
flesh to fulfill its lusts. As a consequence of Christ having 
saved you, let your heart seek those things above. Let your 
eye focus upon the kingdom. Let your service and your slavery, 
rather, be given only to God alone. So if you're a sensitive 
saint here this morning and you're struggling and you're striving 
and you're living in the presence of God and you're seeking to 
deal faithfully, you sometimes take a step forward and a step 
back. But by God's grace, you get up. Remember Micah on behalf 
of the nation says, though I fall, I will rise because God is my 
Lord. God is my savior. God is my king. God is the one who sustains me. 
Now, having given that brief introduction, let us look specifically 
at verse 24. Undivided submission to one master, 
three things to observe. The first is the principle. The principle. Jesus says no 
one can serve two masters. Again, it's not talking about 
you work at an electrical company in the day and you moonlight 
at Taco Bell. I'm not talking about being a 
construction worker and then also serving McDonald's in the 
evening. You can't feasibly serve those 
two masters or those two employees. The word that Jesus is using 
here is slavery. The idea here is utter submission. No one can submit to two masters. A wife isn't supposed to submit 
to two men. She's supposed to submit to her 
own husband as to the Lord. We are to submit to one another 
in the fear of Christ to be sure. The idea here, though, is slavery. No man can be the slave of two 
masters. You see, he's using terminology 
that indicates at the outset we're not dealing with remaining 
sin. We're not dealing with that pressing on. Well, it is remaining 
sin. The temptation is always near 
and dear to our hearts to abandon God and to follow the idol. But 
he's dealing with this idea of submission completely. Dependence 
upon. Why can't we submit or why can't 
we serve two masters? Because our attention is divided. 
Right. Most of us have enough trouble 
just looking after ourselves day to day, don't we? You ever 
wonder when people start questioning God or they say, why is this 
happening or how is this happening? What's going on here? You almost 
want to say or you think to yourself, you know, sometimes it's tough 
to get out of bed on time. Sometimes it's tough to follow 
a simple instruction. Your employer tells you to do 
something, you botch it up. Now, in light of that, do you 
really think, just work with me, do you really think that 
you're calculated to and able to perform the duties of running 
the entire universe? Really. Sometimes we walk around 
our shoelaces untied and we don't even recognize it. And you want 
to tell God how to operate? You want to call into question 
what the Lord is doing in a given situation? The point is our attention 
gets easily divided. The point is, we're not always 
in submission to that authority as we ought to be. If we are 
trying to juggle it, if we are trying to lay up for ourselves 
treasures on earth and we're trying to lay up for ourselves 
treasures in heaven, if our eye at the one and same time is looking 
at God, but looking at mammon, if our eye is focused upon the 
Lord and upon the idol, it is a divided attention. The Lord, 
your God is one. You shall love the Lord your 
God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your 
strength. He demands undivided attention 
as well. There's misplaced energy. You 
try to juggle two masters. What happens? You don't serve 
either well. Somebody says they're a Christian 
living for the world. They're not as worldly as the 
guy down the street, but they're certainly not Christian. There's 
a misplaced energy. Serving Satan and serving God 
is something that you cannot do. As well, the hub, the crux, 
the essence of the point is there's a lack of loyalty. No one can 
serve two masters. You can't be the slave of God 
and Mammon. Now, Mammon here is comprehensive. Mammon isn't 
always evil. Mammon simply means possessions. 
Don't interpret this as saying, I've got to go home and sell 
everything I own. Please don't do that. If you do, sell it to 
a needy family for cheap. Or give it to a needy family. 
Even better, find someone in need. If you get convicted, you've 
got to get rid of your mammon. There'll be somebody there for 
you. That's not the point. Mammon could be anything. We've mentioned this in our studies. 
That pile of money on the table isn't the problem. It's this 
thing in our chest cavity that's the problem. Right? We can take good things and make 
them idols. We can take blessings and serve 
them. We can take gifts and forget 
the giver and bow to the idol. So don't reason, well I don't 
have a lot of money, so I'm not in danger in this particular 
point. It could be anything. It could be your job, it could 
be your wife, it could be your husband, it could be your children, 
it could be your parents. There is a divided loyalty, or 
lack of loyalty rather. That's the principle, no one. 
Notice he doesn't say no one except you. Because our minds work that way 
sometimes. Yeah, I know that guy sitting across the way from 
me. He's got real tendencies to this sin. I know my wife can't 
handle it. I know my husband can't handle 
it. But I'm a pretty strong guy. I know how to juggle things. 
I'm multi-task oriented. I have a day timer. I have a... 
I don't even think they have Palm Pilots anymore. But I have 
the iPhone. And I keep track of everything. 
And it emails me. And it beeps. And it alerts. 
So I really know how to keep things in their proper categories. 
I know how to render up submission to the one and render up submission 
to the other. That's something that I'm good 
at. You know, a brother might come to you and say, Paul says 
in First Thessalonians 5.14, I'm to warn the unruly. You're 
departing, man. You know, if you are a military 
formation here, we use this illustration in the last hour. Everybody's 
lined up in a row. Everybody is uniform. Everybody 
is right. But you're the guy standing off 
to the side with his finger in his ear. That's unruly. You need to get back into the 
ring. You need to get back into the 
rope. You need to get back with the 
people of God. You know, sometimes people hear 
that and they say, well, you just don't understand. I'm able 
to do this. I'm able to function. I'm able 
to keep things in their place. You're about the only one in 
the world. Well, you are the only one in the world. Because 
for most of us, or all of us, the principle is very clear. 
You cannot serve two masters. You'll have divided attention, 
you'll have a misplaced energy, you'll have a lack of loyalty, 
and what you think is service to God will show to be false. Notice the reason. Love the way 
Jesus speaks here. He speaks in stark either-or 
categories. You can't serve two masters. 
Why? Because either he will hate the one and love the other, or 
else ye will be loyal to the one and despise the other." Look 
at that language. I'm going to serve Jehovah and 
Baal. I'm going to bring them both 
into my house of worship. I'm going to serve God and Mammon. 
I'm going to serve God and the world. I'm going to serve God 
and my friends. I don't want my friends to think 
I'm weird. I don't want my friends to think 
I'm not hip. I don't want my friends to think 
I'm a geek. Geek is a good thing nowadays, right? It means somebody 
that's good at computers. In my day, if you were a geek, 
that wasn't a good thing. I don't want my friends to think 
that, so I'm going to serve God and them. So I don't want the 
rival authority to look down upon me and say, you're weird. 
Jesus says in stark either or categories, Either he will hate 
the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the 
one and despise the other. This is a grave situation. You're sitting in a restaurant 
and the waitress asks you to want soup or salad. Your choice 
of soup doesn't mean you despise salad. You still feel like salad. You'd like a nice hearty corn 
chowder. It doesn't mean you despise salad. If we were talking 
about side line items on a menu, this language would be very inappropriate. But when we're talking about 
submission to an authority, when we're talking about where we 
give our hearts, where we focus our eyes, whom we serve. The language is demanded, it's 
necessitated. You either hate the one and love 
the other or you're loyal to the one and despise the other. 
There is not an either or, there's not a both and category here. 
Jesus isn't out here to add himself to the pantheon. Jesus didn't 
come to die and rise again so he could be one of many gods 
that will help you in your need. He's the God who comforts you 
in times of sorrow. Bale will rain on your cross 
and make them fertile. But when you're downcast and 
you're hurting, why don't you go to Jesus and he'll give you 
a nice shot in the arm. Jesus said, I am the way, the 
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except 
through me. I have a message for those who 
say that Christianity is bigoted, it is prejudiced, and it is exclusive. It is because the master is. The master demands allegiance. The master wants your heart. 
The Master wants your eye and body. The Master wants your service. He doesn't die on the cross so 
that you can continue in your sin. Isn't this Paul's point 
in 1 Corinthians 6? Do you struggle with sexual immorality? Do you struggle with internet 
pornography? Do you struggle with flirtatiousness? Do you struggle with whatever 
it may be that falls under that? Well, there were those in Corinth 
that did. And you know what Paul says? He plants the cross right 
in their eyes and He says, you have been bought with a price. 
Therefore, glorify God. You've been purchased by precious 
blood. Therefore, give Him your body. Give Him your soul. That's the 
point. He didn't purchase you so you 
could continue to engage in uncleanness. He didn't purchase you so you 
could continue to be a gossip. He didn't purchase you so you 
could continue to nag your husband to death. He didn't purchase 
you so you could talk about everybody in the church. He didn't purchase 
you so you could lie, so you could cheat, so you could deceive, 
so you could covet. He didn't purchase you so you 
could dishonor your parents. He purchases you for communion. He purchases you because he loves 
you. He purchases you so he can delight 
in you. He wants your heart. He wants 
your eyes. He wants your service. You can't 
serve God in manhood. You can't have a little bit of 
Jesus here and a whole lot of the world here. You can't have 
a little bit of Jesus here and a whole lot of this there. It 
is not a both end situation. It's a good call to discipleship. 
You might be sitting there right now scratching your head. Maybe 
not physically, but metaphorically. You think, wait a minute, this 
Jesus demands everything. Jesus wants it all. Jesus says, 
when I come to him, I better be giving him my loyalty. Absolutely. That's why Jesus said in Luke 
14, you need to think about discipleship. So we don't preach like this 
much. We just say, look at Jesus and everything's great. Look 
at Jesus in faith and you will be saved, to be sure. We preach 
the blessings. We preach the attendant benefits. 
We preach all the good stuff. Jesus says you need to count 
the cost. You need to realize the consequence of discipleship 
is a total life commitment. It's not just Sunday. It's not 
just here. It's not just sitting. It's living, it's breathing, 
it's working, it's wifing, it's husbanding, it's childing, it's 
parenting, it's everything there is. That's what Jesus says. Either 
he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be 
loyal to the one and despise the other. And then thirdly, 
note the issue. He says you cannot serve God 
and mammon. You cannot do this. He's not 
saying it's difficult, but it can be done. You're not saying 
you're the little engine that could. He's not saying that with 
enough grit and enough determination, enough blood, sweat and tears, 
you can have God and man. No, the language is decisive. The language is clear. The language 
is difficult to avoid. You cannot serve God and man. He doesn't say you can't try 
because people do. It says you can't succeed, you 
can't do it. You cannot achieve a position 
of service to Yahweh and service to Baal. It is an impossibility. It is absolutely nonsensical. If God is who the Bible says 
he is, then total commitment is necessitated by the creature. You can't serve God and mammon. 
The Lord says that allegiance to two masters is an impossibility. R.T. Frantz said this, the principle 
of materialism is in inevitable conflict with the kingship of 
God. The principle of materialism, 
that means memen worship, That means your heart is there, your 
eye is there, so therefore your body is there, and your submission 
to Mammon is there. He says the principle of materialism 
is in inevitable conflict with the kingship of God. And while 
I said Mammon is all comprehensive, while I said that you can fit 
wives in there, and husbands, and family, and whatever it is, 
in North America we really ought to take peculiar note to this 
context. He's talking about stuff. He's 
talking about possessions. He's talking about holding on 
to it with a death grip. What makes you unhappy? When you dishonor God? When you 
sin against God? Or when thieves steal your stuff? 
Now, I'm not saying you're happy about thieves stealing your stuff, 
necessarily. It's a little bit of a different 
anger, though. principle. The point is, what is it that 
you value? What is it that you prize? What is most important 
to you? What is that to which you submit? What is that that gains your 
allegiance? That's the point. Spurgeon put it this way. You 
can live for this world or live for the next, but to live equally 
for both is impossible. Where God reigns, The lust of 
gain must go. Calvin, true, it is not impossible 
that those who are rich shall serve God. It's not impossible. 
First Timothy, chapter six, Paul condemns in verses nine and ten, 
those who want riches, those who pursue it, those who love 
money, those who are even looking at religion or godliness as a 
means for gain. He makes a sharp contrast between 
those people in first Timothy, chapter six, nine and ten with 
first Timothy, chapter six, verses 17 to 19. There, he says to Timothy, 
command those who are rich in this present age not to trust 
in those riches. Be submissive to them, don't 
give your allegiance to them, don't treat them as your God, 
don't trust in riches, God alone, get your trust, Christ alone, 
get your trust. He says, don't be haughty. Walk 
around proud and arrogant and highlighting your wealth and, 
you know, bringing out your big fat wallet and showing everybody 
all your money. Don't be aughty. But be generous. Somebody in 
the church has a need or somebody in your family has a need. Don't 
be so tight-fisted. Cough up. Is your wallet the leeches' daughter's? 
Give, give. Meaning give to me, not give 
to others. You see, Paul does not say having 
money in and of itself is wicked. First Timothy 6, 9 and 10. Those 
who trust it, those who pursue it, those who worship it, those 
who lust after it, those who desire it, those who put it on 
their beds and roll around in it, those who think about it, 
those who blog about it, those who look at other, you know, 
catalogs just to see how much they can get, amass and build 
up and have for themselves. That's wicked. The possession 
of stuff. Don't be haughty. Don't trust 
the stuff. Give it up. Cough up. Be benevolent. Be generous. Be the man or the 
woman in the church that's able to write a check to somebody 
in need. That's not wicked. God gives tools like that. If 
everybody was poor in the church, we would never be able to send 
a missionary to China. We'd never be able to buy Bibles 
for those in need. If everybody was poor, we wouldn't 
be able to advance. I'm saying the kingdom of God 
depends on that, the kingdom of God depends upon the word 
and the spirit. We live in a real world that God says use these 
resources to advance the word and the spirit, not the spirit. 
He advances the spirit. You get the point. Calvin says, 
true, it is not impossible that those who are rich shall serve 
God. Not impossible, but whoever gives himself up as a slave to 
riches must abandon the service of God for covetousness. that he must abandon the service 
of God for covetousness makes us the slaves of the devil. You 
shall not covet. A coveting man is a slave of 
the devil. Paul says as much in Ephesians 
and Colossians. How does he further describe 
covetousness? It's interesting. Which is, get it? Idolatry. Covetousness 
is idolatry. Why? Because you have a rival 
authority. You have a rival love. You have 
a rival desire. You have a rival interest that 
obscures the glory, the majesty, the excellence, the beauty, and 
the goodness of God. You can't do it. If you're trying 
here this morning, stop. You're going to fail. You're 
going to lose. going to end. Don't trust in 
riches. Don't love mammon. Don't divide 
up your loyalty. Don't try to apportion a little 
bit here and a little bit of that, a little bit there. Several examples in the Bible 
that exemplify this particular principle. I'm not into moralistic 
preaching where we reduce the Bible to a book of examples. 
The Bible is the history of God's redeeming work. in and through 
the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is good to shine the light 
upon these portions of Scripture with real life accounts in the 
Scripture themselves. We just looked at this on what 
we actually didn't get to verses 9 and 10 on Wednesday night in 
Deuteronomy 7. Says, therefore, know that the 
Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant 
and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep 
his commandments. And he repays those who hate 
him to their face to destroy them. He will not be slack with 
him who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 
Just giving several examples of this particular issue that 
you cannot serve God and man. Again, seven, nine and ten in 
the book of Deuteronomy presents things in an either or fashion. 
You either love God or you hate God. Do not delude yourselves. You know, you might not be a 
Christian this morning and it might rise up in your head. You 
know, I don't hate God. I don't despise God. I just I'm not a Christian. You 
don't get to define the parameters. You don't get to define the rules. 
Those have already been defined. And Jesus says you either love 
him or you hate him. Now, your hatred may not look 
like Charles Manson's. Your hatred may not look like 
some other horrible despot in the history of the world. I mean, 
it's easy to see the hatred of a Joseph Stalin for the living 
God when he murders however many you know, millions of people. 
Pretty evident, isn't it? You say, well, I'd never do that. 
Yeah, but your loyalty, your heart, your attention, your energy 
is not given to God the Lord. You see, it is an either-or situation. Remember Elijah on Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 18, verse 21. He issues this challenge to apostate 
Israel. How long will you falter between 
two opinions? If Baal is God, then worship 
him. If Yahweh is God, then worship 
him. What's the implication? It is 
not a both and prospect. It is not a little bit of Yahweh 
for this season and a little bit of Baal for this season. 
It's not a little bit of Jesus to keep me out of hell and a 
lot of the world to keep me happy on this earth. It's not a little 
bit of Jesus because I have to, but I really want to do this 
because I love to. It's an either-or prospect. 2 
Kings 17, 24-41. We won't rehearse it here, but 
suffice it to say, the context is very clear. Assyria comes 
in and exiles the northern tribes of Israel. They take them away, 
the chastisement of God. And then peoples repopulate Samaria. They repopulate the northern 
kingdom. Transplants, people from other 
nations, perhaps Assyrians themselves, settle in that northern kingdom. 
God sends lions upon them. They're committing their idolatry, 
their wickedness, their horrible things, and God sends lions and 
kills some of them. They said, we don't like these 
lions. And I don't blame them. Do you? I mean, if your child 
ran out into the street and a lion swooped down on them, I don't 
think it would be out of line to try and find some help to 
get rid of the lions. So they said, there's still a 
priest hanging around from the northern tribes. Let's ask him. Oh, well, you see, the god of 
this land is called Yahweh. The God of this land will hear 
you when you pray. Oh, okay. See, the problem was 
lions in the land. They just wanted to get rid of 
the lions. We'll just call on this Yahweh because He provides 
a necessary remedy to us in a difficult situation. That sounds pretty 
familiar to what we meet with in our day. I've tried prayer. I've tried church. I've tried 
Christianity. I've tried it simply to deliver 
me from these hardships and these difficulties. So then the peoples 
of the land say, we'll have Yahweh, but we'll have our gods too. 
We'll have Yahweh because we don't like lions, but we're not 
going to get rid of our gods. We're not getting rid of the 
Baals. We're not getting rid of the Asherah. We're not getting 
rid of Moloch. We love those too. You can't serve God and 
man. You can't do it. There's an instance in Zephaniah 
the prophet. Zephaniah chapter one. After Habakkuk, Zephaniah chapter 
one. He prophesied during the time 
the kings indicated in chapter one, verse one. Probably prior to the reforms 
of Josiah in 622 B.C. But notice what was going on 
in Israel at the time. Chapter one, verse two, I will 
utterly consume everything from the face of the land, says the 
Lord. I will consume man and beast. I will consume the birds 
of the heavens, the fish of the sea, the stumbling blocks, along 
with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face 
of the land, says the Lord. I will stretch out my hand against. 
Here comes Judah. and against all the inhabitants 
of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of 
Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with 
the pagan priests." Notice verse five, those who worship the host 
of heaven on the housetops, those who worship and swear oaths by 
the Lord, but who also swear by Milcon, those who have turned 
back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord 
nor inquired of Him. You know, if you would have upbraided 
them for not serving Yahweh, they would have said, of course 
we are. Of course, we're faithful. Of course, we acknowledge Yahweh. 
Of course, we give him our submission. Well, what about Milcom? Oh, 
yeah, yeah. Him, too. Well, what about Baal? Well, 
yeah, him, too. You don't understand the nature 
of your God. He doesn't share. The Lord your God is a jealous 
God. Isn't this the hub of the second 
commandment? The Lord your God is a jealous God. He repays with 
judgment and punishment upon those who despise him. People have fallen prey to this 
idea that we can have God and mammoth. We can have both and. And then one final text to illustrate, 
one final text to exemplify or example, Revelation 21. Revelation, Chapter 21, you know, 
there's of course, there's several more that we could look at. That's 
not just preacher talk for I don't have anything more to say. Probably 
do have more to say, but I don't want to be here till Midnight, 
because you would all think I'm weird. Actually, that would be the most 
generous thing you could think, is that I'm weird. Notice in 
Revelation 21 verse 8, but the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, 
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all 
liars shall have their part in a lake which burns with fire 
and brimstone which is the second death. A pretty typical vice 
list in the New Testament. A pretty typical list of those 
things which exclude you from the kingdom of God. A pretty 
standard list of those things that if engaged in repetitively, 
if engaged in as a pattern of life, will bar you from entrance 
to the kingdom. Pretty typical, except for the 
first one. I don't know of another vice 
list in the New Testament where cowardly comes first. And I've explained this to the 
congregation here many times. The cowardice in view here is 
not your natural aversion to snakes. It's not saying if you're 
afraid of snakes, or you're afraid of lions, or you're afraid of 
tigers, or you're afraid of bears, you will not enter the kingdom 
of God. That's not the point. You know 
it's repeated in every one of the seven letters to the churches 
in Asia Minor. To him who overcomes. To him who overcomes. To him who overcomes in each 
of the seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor. In fact, look 
at verse seven, which precedes our verse here. He who overcomes 
shall inherit all things. And I will be his God and he 
shall be my son. The cowardly in the context are 
the non-overcomers. The cowardly in the context are 
those who perhaps made a profession, signed a card, walked an aisle, 
asked Jesus into their heart, but never believed the gospel. That's the coward. What's their part? In the lake 
of fire which burns forever. You see, you can't have Jesus 
and then man. You can't serve two masters. John Gill illustrates, or John 
Gill comments on this idea of being cowardly. He says, not 
the timorous sheep and lambs of Christ. I'm just reading a 
good book recently, and the man's talking about Middle Eastern 
shepherds and what they have reported in terms of a sheep 
that goes astray. You probably all know this. You 
probably heard this growing up in Sunday school. It bears repeating. 
But when a sheep gets lost from the flock, you know what it does? 
It finds a bush, or it finds a rock, and it hides there. Cowering, 
afraid, terrified, waiting for the shepherd. Lo and behold, 
when the shepherd comes to fetch it, the sheep's legs are so rubbery, 
it can't walk. Sounds like something our Lord 
taught us in Luke 15, when that one sheep goes and he finds it 
and he puts it on his shoulders and he goes home and he has to 
put it on his shoulders because it can't walk. This man shed 
some light for me on the 23rd Psalm as well. The book is called 
Jacob and the Prodigal, how Jesus retold Israel's history. The 
parable of the prodigal son not only demonstrates the kindness 
of God falling upon the son, But it's also connected to the 
two previous stories about the shepherd who lost the sheep and 
the woman who lost the coin. But as well, it teaches us something 
about the Jacob narrative in Genesis, teaches us something 
about Israel's history. He says the link between that 
shepherd parable and the first aspect of the parable in Luke 
15 is Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall 
not want. When it says he restores me, It's really He brings me back. 
He causes me to repent. When it says He leads me in the 
paths of righteousness, what's the implication? I was in the 
path of unrighteousness. I went astray. He sought me. He found me. He put me on His 
shoulders. And He went home rejoicing. He 
brings us back to the flock. He puts us among his people. 
There's still difficulties. There's still trials. First Thessalonians 
5, 514. Comfort the faint hearted. There's 
the discouraged in our midst. There's the perplexed. There's 
the hurting. There's the suffering. There's 
the agonizing. There's the tried. There's the 
travail. That's not whom John is speaking 
of here in the cowardly. These are defectors. These are 
apostates. These are ones who will take 
the beast rather than the lamb. When push comes to shove, when 
difficulties and trials come, they don't cower and hide and 
wait for their blessed Redeemer. They run the other way and they 
follow the beast. That's the cowardice. Gil nails 
it. Not the timorous sheep and lambs 
of Christ, the dear children of God, who are sometimes of 
a fearful heart on account of sin, temptation, and unbelief. He says, but such who are cowardly 
spirits and are not valiant for the truth, but through the fear 
of man, either make no profession of Christ in his gospel, or having 
made it, drop it, lest they should be exposed to tribulation and 
persecution. These are they that are afraid 
of the beast and live in servile bondage to him. So you see, the 
Bible everywhere highlights this principle that Jesus teaches 
in Matthew chapter six, which he summarizes in this statement. 
You cannot serve God and man. So stop right now. Forsake it. Let go of the man. Let go of the idol. Let go of 
Baal. Let go of Milcom. Let go of Asherah. Let go of your job, not literally, 
but let go of worshiping it. cannot serve God and man. It's an impossibility. That's 
the point. That's what Jesus wants us to 
get. The pursuit of heavenly treasure, single eye devotion 
to the kingdom of God and service to God highlights the fundamental 
message of this section, loyalty to the kingdom. again, as a consequence 
of having been brought into the kingdom by the blood of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. It is by grace alone, through 
faith alone, in Christ alone that we are justified, that we 
find our acceptance with God, that pardon from sin comes, that 
the imputation of righteousness comes, that is grounded fully 
on the active and the passive obedience of Jesus Christ alone 
as a consequence of that transaction of God's Having justified us, 
we not only have peace with God, according to Romans 5, 1, but 
we are to pursue the kingdom with all of our heart, with all 
of our soul, and with all of our strength. That's Jesus' point 
in Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 to 24. And I want to remind 
the believers of one thing, and then I want to remind unbelievers 
of one thing, and then we'll close. The first is don't forget. that active obedience, that passive 
obedience of Christ. We were talking about this yesterday 
morning, and I mentioned how J. Gresson Machen on his deathbed, 
some of his final words, if the biographers are to be believed, 
where I'm so thankful for the active obedience of Christ because 
there's no hope without it. See, Machen understood, well, 
we need Jesus passive obedience. That means his death at Calvary. 
We need that blood to pardon our sins. We are filthy, vile, 
guilty. We need blood to cleanse us. 
Hebrews 9.22 lays down the principle without the shedding of blood, 
there is no remission. We need pardon. We need cleansing. We need to be washed. Machen 
makes this observation in another place. He says, once we're washed, 
once we're purified, once we're pardoned, it's as if we are Adam 
back at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We've been 
cleansed. We've been purified. Our sins 
are taken care of. But we are not confirmed in righteousness 
at this point. We are not confirmed in holiness 
at this point. We don't have a righteousness 
that avails with God. Musing on the beauty of the doctrine 
of justification. It's not only pardon, but it's 
amputation of righteousness. It's the clothing of Christ in 
him alone that avails with God. Never minimize that. Never misunderstand 
that. Never confuse conditions with 
consequences. Realize you are saved by the 
grace of God through faith in Christ and that alone. Just want to quote a man I mentioned 
Luther earlier. Bring it back here. This particular 
fellow writing about this subject says the righteousness of God 
is that which God himself provides. When Luther discovered this the 
Reformation was born. That is the good news. That is 
the gospel. The righteousness of Jesus Christ 
is both the demand of God and God's provision for his people. 
This is how Paul uses it in Romans 3 Philippians chapter 3. Not having my own righteousness 
which is from the law, but that righteousness which is what? 
From God through faith in Christ Jesus. It is the righteousness 
that God demands that He supplies. Please don't forget that. I'm 
convinced that when we understand that, that consequence is necessarily 
and happily followed. The problem is when we move that 
into the place of condition. I have to do this. What's the 
inevitable fruit? I'm so good. I'm so holy. I'm 
so loyal. I'm so proud. I'm so wonderful. 
It is the righteousness of God or the righteousness of Christ 
that is provided. This fellow goes on to say the righteousness 
of Jesus Christ is both the demand of God and God's provision for 
his people. If you want to see what God demands 
of you and me. Look at the perfect life of Jesus 
Christ. He was truly man as man was meant 
to be. Jesus is the righteousness of 
God and that he is the provision of God. When he was born into 
this world, it was birth such as had not been since Adam fell. 
He came to Earth to live a life that no one had lived since Adam 
fell. If you look at the whole stream of human history from 
the fall to the end of the world, you will only see 33 years that 
God except. You get that. And it ain't your 
33 years. You should be smiling right now. 
We don't have 33 seconds of righteousness. We don't have 33 milliseconds 
of righteousness. It's the righteousness of Jesus. It's what He did. He says, Jesus 
came to give the perfect sacrifice, the substitutionary ransom for 
the failure of men and women to live righteously before God. 
He rose from the tomb and ascended to the right hand of God so that 
right now he is in God's presence as a perfect man on behalf of 
all those who trust him. Jesus came and lived a life of 
perfect obedience to the law of God. His life matched the 
holiness of God at every point. what the holiness of God demanded, 
Jesus provided. Amen. That's what ought to fuel the 
pursuit of kingdom loyalty. I'm not saved because I'm loyal. I'm saved because Christ was 
loyal. I'm saved because Christ has 
saved me. And as a consequence, I want 
my heart to be heavenward. I want my eye to be focused. 
I want my submission to be to the one master who is worthy, 
my Lord God Almighty. And then to those who have not 
believed the gospel, Jesus teaches something in John 8, 31 to 36, 
that is quite profound. He says, every man is a slave. See, it's never a question of 
slavery versus no slavery. The question is always, whose 
slave are you? That's the issue. Jesus says, 
whoever commits sin again in that category is not talking 
about remaining corruption. The ones that we confess, God 
cleanses, God forgives so that we might fear him. He's talking 
about reigning sin. Whoever commits sin. is what? He is a slave of sin. He is in 
bondage to sin. He is sin's helpless captive. He wants to do the bidding of 
his master. He is in a terrible spot. He 
is in a horrible spot. That is not freedom. That is 
not liberty. That is not joy. Ask the guy 
who can't even stand up because he is so saturated with alcohol 
if he's a free man. Ask the person who is so in bondage 
to sexual immorality if they're free. Ask the person who is bowing 
down to their money if they're free. You see, sin captivates, 
sin ravages, sin enslaves, and then men bow to it. That's the 
point of John 8, 31 to 36. But Jesus doesn't stop there. 
He says, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. There's a way out of that slavery. There's a way out of that bondage. 
There's a way out of that market. And it's through the blood. It's 
through Jesus. It's through faith. Believe what 
you've heard this morning concerning Christ and his gospel, that he 
lived in obedience to the law, that he died as a sacrifice, 
that he rose again. The scripture says, believe those 
things and you shall be saved. That's what breaks the power 
of reigning sin. That's what sets the captive 
free. You know, Wesley said, long my 
imprisoned spirit lay. That's your lot right now, outside 
of Christ. You're not a free man. You're 
not a happy-go-lucky young woman. You're not carefree. Everything 
is not rosy and peachy. Everything is not good. You are 
in the slave house of sin. And the only way of escape is 
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Ryle says, commenting on this 
slavery to sin, he says, there is no slavery like this. Sin 
is the hardest. of all taskmasters. You say you 
might live under a despot and actually get a day, an hour, 
a moment where you can smile and be happy and revel in the 
fact that for that moment you've got some joy. Sin is continuous. This slavery is always It is 
constant, it is perpetual, it doesn't go away. He says, misery 
and disappointment in the way, despair and hell in the end. 
These are the only wages that sin pays to its servant. To deliver 
men from this bondage is the grand object of the gospel. to 
awaken people to a sense of their degradation, to show them their 
chains, to make them arise and struggle to be free. This is 
the great end for which Christ sent forth his ministers. Happy 
is he who has opened his eyes and found out his danger. To 
know that we are being led captive is the very first step toward 
deliverance. If you find yourself, if you 
understand this principle, you are in the slave market of sin. Look to Christ. and live. That's 
wherein redemption lies. Isn't that beautiful? Israel was sinning out in the 
wilderness and God sent a bunch of snakes to bite them. You say, 
why would the Lord do that? Well, you know, God is a just 
judge. God is a governor of a moral universe. And when we sin, when 
we transgress, there is repercussion. But you know, God wasn't only 
sending serpents to bite them. He was sending a promise to encourage 
them. So that when Moses made that 
brazen serpent and he lifted it up in the wilderness and those 
people looked, what would they do? They would live. You look and you live. Not suck 
the venom out and then look. Not look, then suck the venom 
out. Look and live. Jesus uses this to show why he 
came in John 3. Just as the serpent was raised 
up in the wilderness, so must also the son of man be. What's 
his point? You look and you live. Don't 
look and try to suck the venom out. Don't look and then try 
to merit. Look and live. It's the way out 
of the slave market. It's through Christ and it's 
through him alone. Well, let us pray. Father, thank you for 
this your word. Thank you that you have given 
us your word that you've not left us in the dark. We praise 
you for our Lord Jesus. We praise you for his life and 
his death and his resurrection. We praise you for the gospel, 
for that glorious news that God sent his son into this world 
to die and rise again so that everyone who believes, all the 
believing ones, will have everlasting life. I just pray even now, Lord 
God, that you would send your spirit, that your spirit would 
open hearts, that your spirit would show men, women, boys and 
girls, their slavery, and he would show them the Lord Jesus 
as the one alone who can set them free. We thank you for your 
mercy, grace, and blessing as your people. We pray that you 
would help us to heed the warning that we cannot serve God and 
mammon. Grant us grace to be loyal. Grant us grace to be undivided. And when we do fall and when 
we do sin, give us grace to come back speedily to find mercy and 
forgiveness with you. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.