Being a One-Master Servant
(Message delivered by Dr Jeffrey Khoo at the True Life Church 10.30 am Service, Oct 9, 05)
Text: Matt. 6:19-34
My title, “Being a One-Master Servant,” is a restatement of Matt 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.” No man can serve two masters without being a hypocrite. A man who serves two masters is a “double agent”—he has two faces and is double-hearted; he is a traitor like Judas who finally revealed that money was his master, not Jesus Christ. As much as we do not want such disloyal and treacherous men to be our friends, neither does the Lord. Our loyalty to God must be 100% or none at all. Split loyalty is disloyalty; 99% or even 99.9% allegiance to God is not good enough and falls far short of God’s glory or perfect standard (Rom 3:23).
How to be one-Master servants? We can only be one-Master servants if we apply the following biblical principles:
(I) Love Heavenly Treasures, Despise Earthly Riches
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (vv19-21). The Lord tells us that earthly riches are transient and will last only for a short while. They may be here today, but gone tomorrow. What can take our worldly goods away? (1) Moth: This refers to natural disasters (eg, tsunami, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes etc). (2) Rust: This refers to age and decay. (3) Thieves: This refers to human agents who steal, cheat and rob us of our possessions.
In contrast, heavenly treasures are forever; not diamonds are forever, but heaven! Heaven is where God is. He is your Safekeeper. There are no thieves and robbers in heaven, only the angels and the saints, and they will not steal from you.
How to build up your treasures in heaven? Simple: by working for the Lord right now on earth. “Work for the night is coming, work through the morning hours … Work for the night is coming, when man’s work is done.” When we work for the Lord, our hearts must be right—“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” The heart is the seat of emotions and affections. Love the world and you will think money. Love Christ and you will think heaven.
(II) Love Truth, Hate Error
“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 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!” (vv 22-23). Light refers to Truth. Ps 43:3 says, “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me.” The light of God is His truth. Darkness refers to sin and error. We are walking in a sin-cursed world which is dark and dangerous with many pitfalls and potholes. If we want to walk aright, and prevent ourselves from falling into danger, we need the light of God’s Word, for “thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps 119:105). We need to fill our minds with God’s Perfect Word which is our Perfect Compass. This Perfect Compass always points us to the right and precise direction, and we have such a Perfect Compass today! We have the forever infallible and inerrant words of Christ 100% inspired and 100% preserved to lead and guide us and we shall not be afraid what the devil or wicked men might do to us (2 Tim 3:16, Matt 5:18)! As much as God has preserved His words (Ps 12:6-7), so shall He also preserve His saints (Ps 12:1-5). Our perfect Bible is never out of focus, and contains no double images. It will give us a “single eye” and is “full of light.” We must follow Jesus always, and never lose sight of Him our Lord and our Saviour for “Jesus again spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).
(III) Love God’s Kingdom, Forget Satan’s World
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? … But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (vv 24, 25, 33).
We may have many worries in life—food, clothing, shelter, etc. God tells us not to worry. He knows how to take care of our physical needs. If He takes care of the birds on the daily basis, and makes sure they have food each time, how much more will He care for us His children who are far more important and precious to Him than the sparrows! The Lord does not want us to worry about such matters of livelihood. He promises to take care of our physical needs; He will give us day by day our daily bread. We should let go and let God worry about our physical needs. What God wants us to worry about is our spiritual life—Is God first place in our life? Are we reading our Bible and praying every day? Do we keep the Lord’s Day holy? Are we studying His Word diligently, and having close fellowship with the saints? Or do we love the things of the world? This is the Lord’s command, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17).
Conclusion
If we want to serve the Lord, we must serve Him with 100% love and loyalty. The Lord expects no less from us. How to be one-Master servants? Jesus tells us to (1) love heavenly treasures and despise earthly riches, (2) love truth and hate error, (3) love God’s kingdom and forget Satan’s world. May the Lord help us.
THE GOSPEL OF LIFE: Chapter XVI
John 16:1-4
To be forewarned is to be forearmed
When Jesus first called the 12 apostles, did He not lay down the terms of discipleship? Yes, He did. Though Mark and Luke give us a scanty description, Matthew fills in the details with the whole of chapter 10, consisting of 42 verses. The warnings He gave therein are the same as given in this passage, just as frank and drastic, and the demands of discipleship just as absolute.
In Matthew, however, the disciples are assured of the Father’s protection by His particular providential care. They are promised the wisdom of the Holy Spirit for their lips to deliver them from the verbal snares of their accusers. Why does our Lord say, “And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you?”
Our understanding is that though He had stated the terms of discipleship, He did not harp on them, since the time of testing had not yet come. Since the Lord was always in the company of the disciples, they felt secure.
Now that zero hour was approaching, the Master must have His disciples braced for the test. To be forewarned is to be forearmed: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” Suffering no doubt, but deliverance sure!
What lesson can we learn from this plain talk? We must also be alerted. As the disciples had to go through suffering in the way of the cross, we must be prepared to go through turmoil and persecution in these last days before we see the crown –His return! Despite our present trials, however, we also shall have our sorrow turned into joy when He comes in the clouds of heaven to take us up. Is this your hope in a troubled world?
