Title: No one can serve two masters!
Contents
Sunday day sermon
Text: Matthew 6:19-34
Title: No one can serve two masters!
Once upon a time, in a country where only animals lived, there was a fight between birds and beasts. Birds and animals always envy, slander, and fight each other. Then, one day, the fight became more and more intense, and finally a war broke out.
One night, a bat that had been playing until late was caught by a weasel. The bat begs for his life, but the weasel, who usually hates birds, doesn't even listen. The desperate bat crouched down and said that he was a rat, not a bird. The weasel, who seemed so plausible, let the bat go. A few days later, the bat was captured by another weasel. Thinking of the agony he had suffered last time, the bat crouched down like a mouse again. But the weasel I met this time was a guy who hated mice very much. The bat immediately spread its wings and said that it was a bird. In the end, he is released safely this time.
From then on, the bat begins to ponder which side to attach to, looking at birds and animals. As the battle leaned toward the beast, the bat folded its wings, cursed the flying beast, claiming that it was the same beast, and started flattering. However, when the victory leaned towards the bird again, the bat spread its wings, said that it was a bird, and stuck to it again.
One day, as the damage increases, the birds and beasts make an agreement, understand each other, and live peacefully. However, when the bats appear, one side says, "Are you not a beast?" and the other, "Aren't you a bird?" After all, it is said that bats cannot live among animals, and since then they have been living alone in a dark cave and only wandering around at night.
It is part of the bat story in Aesop's fables. Today's people of faith should never lead a life like a bat. Nevertheless, today almost all Christians live a life like a bat. With their mouths, they constantly shout “Lord, Lord,” while inwardly they still want to enjoy wealth and fame on this earth. Jesus said, “There is no place to lay your head on this earth.” However, church members who call God their Father are looking for a place to lay their heads on this earth. Why are people who believe in Jesus and have been saved so different from the life Jesus taught?
If they were really God's sent sons, they would also have done the work of forgiving human sins like Jesus who came to Israel. And those who do such work would never have struggled as they do today for wealth and fame on earth. In the days of Jesus, the temple in Jerusalem was so large and splendid, but just walking in and out of the temple could not forgive the sins of not living according to the law. The sin of not living according to the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven. Therefore, for Christians to have their sins forgiven, only when they believe in the Son sent by God will their sins be truly forgiven.
Today, no matter how hard you may be in your religious life, there will be no one who can confidently say that they do not live a religious life like a bat. If there is anyone who says that he is not like a bat, such a person is a complete deceive of himself. Gentiles, whether they are believers or unbelievers, are already corrupt in their hearts. To say that the heart is corrupt means that the human spirit (soul) died because of sin. A person with a dead soul thinks only of the earth, so living in wealth and honor on earth is considered a blessing from God.
The biggest problem with people living in faith today is that they try to deceive themselves. Unbelievers do not know God because they do not believe in Jesus and have not received the Holy Spirit. So, they live by expressing what they have in their heart. I'd rather be honest than people who believe. However, in order to prove that they lived through Jesus, those who live the faith are pretending to be good, pretending to be holy, and pretending to be good in front of people, imitating Christ over and over again. No matter how outwardly we pretend to be Christ, the soul in our hearts is already dead, how can it be connected to life?
To say that they are different on the outside and different on the inside is exactly what Christians are saying today. If they had not had a dead spirit, but the living Spirit of Christ in their hearts, they would not have struggled so much to gain things on earth as they are now. If they are truly the sons of God, what is it that they regret that they spend tens of millions of dollars every week on advertisements in newspapers asking people on earth to recognize them, and then they struggle so hard to obtain rotten wealth and fame? This fact alone shows that they are not yet sons of God.
But the bigger problem is that he is living a double life like a bat, but he doesn't realize that at all. Their fault can be found in the fact that while they are constantly calling out the name of the Lord with their mouths, they still have the will to succeed in the world inwardly. It is up to the dead to eat well and live well in the world. That is why the world is left in their hands, and the living should focus only on the work of rescue of dead souls by following the Lord's commands. But the fact that believers have an earthly mind like the dead is proof that they too are not of heaven yet.
In Matthew 23, we read, “Do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven! Also, do not be called leaders, for your leader is one, even Christ.” What does this mean? It is not my father who gave birth to me in the flesh, but God, who is the Father of all spirits, is the Father of all of us.
Therefore, it means that the sons of God who are born again through Christ obey only the word of the Father and have only Christ as their master. However, if those who call God their father today are greedy for worldly things, want to advance in the world, and are intent on gaining wealth and fame in the world, then these people are false sons of God who only live with their mouths. “What belongs to Caesar, to Gaisha, what belongs to God, to God” These words of the Lord are also, “The world is in the hands of the dead, and all who are alive through Christ should follow God.”
However, today, many people who call on the name of the Lord enjoy wealth and honor in this world, and believe in the Lord and want to go to heaven. Wouldn't it be great if all of them were like that? But the place where that never happens is the kingdom of heaven. Just as heaven and earth cannot coexist, water and oil cannot mix, and Belial and Christ cannot coexist, no one can enter eternal life with the corrupt hearts of present-day Christians who are different from each other.
The resolution of the corrupt hearts of Christians will be possible only when they believe in the Son God has sent in the future. Only then will Christians know who the true master is. -Those who have ears will understand...-