A TUTORIAL ON EFFECTIVE SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Teaching, Training & Commissioning
Chapter 12 Episode 8
REMOVING THE OBSTACLE OF TWO MASTERS
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. Having two masters is untenable as a disciple of Jesus. In order to follow Jesus and to serve Him, in order to inherit the Kingdom of God, there is room for only One Master: Jesus.
We are faced with the reality of making a choice. This choice will determine the path you will follow. You may have the intention of following Jesus, but, if you practice the “the love of money”, your steps will take you away from Him and into a temporal darkness, far away from the path of the Disciple of Jesus.
(For our convenience, I have coded the Obstacle in green, the penalty in purple and the Remedy in Blue.)
Episode 8: Removing the Obstacle of Two Masters requires you choose between God and Wealth.
Matthew 6:19-24 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
“where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
“for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
“But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters;
“for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.
“You cannot serve God and wealth.”
This teaching is about the obstacle of having to choose between two masters: God or Wealth.
Jesus starts by telling His disciples they must choose between immediate gratification of earthly treasures or the delayed, but, permanent rewards with God. The consequence of gathering earthly treasure is lifetime lost. It is a choice between the temporal and the eternal. The text is about God and wealth, but, the CONTEXT is about lust.
Next, Jesus addresses “the lust of the eye” which affects your entire body and soul. And, we are warned, that if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. We are instructed and commanded to walk light as He is in the light, so we will have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Finally, He describes the lust as the cruel, unforgiving and demanding taskmaster when He says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Once your mind and soul have been ensnared by the lust for money, (1 Timothy 6:10), you will have wandered away from the faith and pierced yourself with many griefs.
When you have been enticed, your lust gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
THE CURE is to repent, daily, for His Kingdom is at hand; literally, as near as your hand is to your wrist – it is within you!
Repenting, in the Biblical sense, literally means, “To change one’s mind; to change one’s mind for the better” and it comes from two root words which mean, “Hereafter, have this understanding or perception”.
Repenting is the act of changing your mind which means your mindset, your values, and your worldview is changed. Some would say you then live by new standards. But it is much greater than just living by new standards.
A person of sound mind cannot simultaneously think one thing and do another, repentance results in a complete change of mind and direction of one’s life.
Another way of saying this is, “As a man or woman thinks, so are they”.
BOTH A COMMAND AND A PROPHETIC WORD
Interestingly, Jesus, the Son of God, in fact God Himself, said these very words which is recorded in Matthew 4:17. Remembering, this is both a Command and a prophetic Word from God.
Jesus said this is what we are to do – Repent – in order to become His disciple and to follow Him, and, this is what will happen is we repent.
The disciples echoed and repeated these very words as they continued to do the Works of God, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is now at hand”.
Jesus says for each of us to repent as an act of our will and that Repentance will allow the Holy Spirit to come into our bodies, our minds and regenerate our spirits. We will become One with Him.
Our fleshly desires begin to fade, and our new desires emanate from the Holy Spirit of God. It is not us producing Spiritual Fruit, it is from The Holy Spirit, and it should pour out of us, liberally.
We begin to desire the Things of God. We are made new, and we can now walk with certainty, with purpose and power in our New Life.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
Please remember to click the blue italicized links in each chapter, in order to get the important details on these Bible teachings)
Please bookmark this page and watch for our next chapter, “Removing the Obstacle of Anxiety”
(The previous episode can be found at “Removing The Obstacle Pride and Hypocrisy”)
(Please also notice, you can listen by podcast as you read along. You can pause the audio in order to click the links for details and references, which are necessary for the entire teaching)
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