The Lure of a Lesser Loyalty, Part 1

Much as we try. Nothing is hidden from God today from Chuck Swindoll. Do not try to convince yourself that you can hide from the living God. Omniscience has no blind spots presence is no limitation everywhere at once knowing everything there is one earth below it. Above it and beyond. That's our Molly of split loyalty you put it this way no one can serve two masters.

For you will hate one and love the other, what did Jesus mean when he gave that bold assertion today on Insight for living Chuck Swindoll sheds light is located in Matthew chapter 6 in this portion of his message, Jesus exposes the folly of trying to serve God and money at the same time Chuck titled today's message the lure of a lesser loyalty every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is the Lord Christ, and we anticipate that in the future though right now it seems a distant hope. But that promise will remain true to ensure God's word is alive and it is active and it is sharper than a two edged sword is able to pierce were no surgeons scalpel can ever reach to the soul and the spirit of individuals like you and me.

God's word is a critic of the thoughts and intentions of the heart. If you will. God's word reads our minds and enables us to see ourselves as we really are in the eyes of God.

Because of that when we turn to his word, we turn to a body of literature that is like no other on the planet, whether old or New Testament. It is equally inspired of God and profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, instruction in righteousness, that the man or woman of God may be, mature, thoroughly equipped for the work God called us to do in your worship folder today. You will find an outline, I'd like you to place it at Psalm 139 and leave it there and then turn from Psalm 139 Matthew chapter 6 were we continue our study of the gospel by Matthew and specifically, we are in the sermon on the Mount, which covers Matthew 567 so your outline is at Psalm 139 and now your eyes were on Matthew 619 through 24. 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 her steel 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, in the light that is in you is darkness had 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 with the Lord open our eyes and give us life so that we understand what he said in those days and what it means to us living today to study the book of Matthew with Chuck Swindoll. Be sure to download his searching the Scriptures. Studies by going to Insight world.org/studies another message from Chuck titled the lure of a lesser loyalty. The path of Christianity is strewn with the litter of straying saints. Invariably, each who has strayed has chosen to be Lord by a lesser loyalty.

Not one time following a higher standard. Something happened or something's happened that created adrift, perhaps a better word is an erosion often when we discover that the drift is there. We are surprised sometime downright shocked. It can happen at a seminary that was once a stalwart for truth known for its standard of righteousness upholding the inerrancy of the word of God and the deity of Christ and the doctrines of the faith, but now through that lure of the lesser loyalty there no longer in that category. They drifted away can happen in a Bible college can happen in the home. It can obviously happen in a church I once preached at a church in another state that it once been sort of the beacon of hope in the community known all over that city for its its splendid witness for Christ in the audience. The congregation I spoke to that evening must not have numbered 100 people, though it would seek well over a thousand.

In the process of time, the church began to drift lost its testimony lost its reputation and lost its influence erosion is is; it's slow but silent it to happen. Of course in the life. Candidly, it could be happening right now in your life could be the best-kept secret even among your friends, but deep down within there is this shift.

This drift taking place. The Bible includes several example.

My mind takes me to the Old Testament the prophet Elisha had a servant named Ghazi Gazi followed alongside Elisha saw the miracles being done watched as his master led through one difficult situation after another because he was faithful to a point and then lured by the lesser loyalty of wealth. He slipped away and fell later was confronted by his master in finally died tragically, a leper, having been lured away by a lesser loyalty.

Jonah is familiar to all of us.

He was given a clear direction to take the message of truth to Nineveh the capital city, no doubt to never heard before. The message of the Lord God in this prejudice prophet would have nothing to do with that took the first shipping confined to the opposite direction rather than moving toward Nineveh.

He went toward Tarshish, right across the Mediterranean wound up, you remember the belly of the fish huge for. He finally did get the Nineveh made the first amphibious landing on my dad right there on the shores of Nineveh and preach, though he did so reluctantly, and even at the end was a pouting prophet, lured by lesser loyalty. Then of course you get to the New Testament, the one that stands out is Dimas a once loyal companion of Paul who traveled with him. Paul writes toward the end of his life. Dimas has forsaken me, having loved this present world. Dimas is no longer at his side. What happened to Dimas.

We don't know but we do know that he drifted away from calling that was once his me make something very clear to all of us. No one is immune. No one, in fact, Paul writes in first Corinthians 10 verse 12 let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Please don't sit there listening, feeling smug, as if this could never happen to you. I'm sure most who fell once said that Oswald Chambers words are hunting from his work. My utmost for his highest. Always remain alert to the fact where one is going back is exactly where anyone may go back the same man who wrote over 250 years ago, come thou fount of every blessing to my heart to sing thy grace streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount I'm fixed upon the mount of thy redeeming love also wrote at the end prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart take ceiling ceiling for the courts above a very honest composer I give you my praise today, but I acknowledge Lord that I have a hard that's prone to wander and so is mine.

And so is yours. I repeat, no one is immune to the lure of a lesser loyalty and that Laura can lead us in a number of different directions we can often convince ourselves that the sin is a secret after all.

Who knows what you're watching on your computer when everyone else in the family is asleep. Who knows what you pull up on the Internet who would ever guess that you're playing with an affair, certainly not your mate. No one is immune. I hope you will never forget that.

Hope it will stay in your mind till your last breath. I don't take many things on the equipment in my study. I don't have a lot of mottos hanging here or there, but I will tell you that I have taped one particular statement I gave you a number of weeks ago on my printer right by my keyboard.

My computer it reads sin will take you farther than you want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay. It will cost you more than you want to pay.

I don't ever want to forget that I don't want to ever try to convince myself that I can live in a bit of secrecy and no one will know I can hide in this allurement toward another loyalty so it's with that in mind, that I began not in Matthew chapter 6, but in Psalm 139 want to show you that there is a very real fact that you live your life like an open book before God. There are no secrets to him.

The song is a prayer through the Psalm you read words like overlord infected begins with those words and I know God and he prays for this and he prays for that becomes the very end and is another prayer search me oh God, and know my heart try me and know my thoughts. See if there is any way of her literally from the Hebrew see if there is any hurtful way within me and that lead me in the everlasting way search me oh God, he can say that because of what is written in the song the covered begins overlord you have searched me in known me then I guess specific you know when I sit down you know when I rise up. You understand my thoughts from afar, meaning long before I have the thought, you know it's coming. He continues to scrutinize my path and my lying down and you are intimately acquainted with a LL my weakness, even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, overlord. You know what a LL every word spoken.

Every thought pictured in the mind. I'm an open book Lord.

Verse nine. If I take the wings of the dawn if I could travel the speed of light, like the morning rays of the sun and immediately get to the remotest part of the sea. The most distant island surrounded by massive body of water, even there your hand will lead me in your right hand will hold me even there I'm an open book.

Do not try to convince yourself that you can hide from the living God, please. Omniscience has no blind spots on the presence has no limitation everywhere at once knowing everything there is on earth below it. Above it and beyond it. That's our God doesn't enough look at the Hebrews chapter 4 we love to quote Hebrews 4 and verse 12 the word of God is alive and active and sharper than a two edge sword piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is a critic costs the Greek word says it is a critic of the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. In other words, the word of God will reveal what is in your heart you think you have a hidden motive. There is no such thing, not before the living God. Look at verse 13, which most people cannot quote there is no creature hidden from his site, but a LL all things are open late bearer to the eyes of him with whom we have to do there. It is your life is like in open book.

Read clearly by the one who made you known at all times, day or night when you visit. Matthew chapter 6 Jesus is careful to say, not once, not twice but three times that our God is a God who sees in secret. You may have forgotten we saw that last time verse four is your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Verse six ends your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Verse 18 in his your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

This is when the life is is live before God with purpose and meaning, and purity in the power of the Holy Spirit your God who sees it all is never ever surprised or shocked knows that your heart is right and whether you're giving your praying or or fasting. Which of the three subjects of verses one through 18 the Lord season the Lord will reward you for doing it, not as a hypocrite not to be seen not to make a good impression. But as a servant of the living God, he will reward you. That's on the heels of all of that.

Verses 19 to 24 appear in the sermon.

Understand this is a sermon chapters 5, six and seven comprise the sermon on the mount.

That's where Jesus sat with his followers on that slope leading down to the northern edge of the sea of Galilee, and there he taught them and those people that never in their lives heard a sermon like this one ever been bored to tears by the scholars by the end by the of the scribes and by the Pharisees dripping with their hypocrisy as they parsed every word and an did surgical work on every noun and verb in preposition to the point of being distracted and along comes Jesus talks in terms anyone can understand is that amazing.

He spoke these words in the first century before and had reached halfway through the century.

And like you people said and listened hearing things that they've never heard another places Jesus begins with a warning do not edit, and with the fact you cannot just see that like bookends the warning do not and the ending, you cannot. In between is a series of contrasts that we can observe when you read your Bible, put your put your mind in gear. I don't know be watching your watch will be concerned about the time even if you only have a little bit of time. Focus on what you're reading. If you miss it. Go back and read it again. If you read over and missed the thought go back and read it again. I often read it aloud.

I will offer read it very slowly. I'll read it from another version of the Scriptures than the one I'm using in my study and by doing that I found that there there are several contrasts that emerge look for yourself.

Not sure for yourselves treasures on earth.

In verse 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, as a contrast. There's a difference between possessions on earth and positions that are in heaven, and the contrast is even seen in how they can be destroyed or preserved treasures on earth are where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal.

But when you have treasures in heaven.

None of the three occurs, there are no malts.

There is no rust there will be no themes so that contrast stands verse 22. The eye is the lamp of the body of your eye is clear. Let's one thing to look at the contrast if your eye is bad.

That's the next verse, verse 22, clear eyes full of light.

A bad eye is full of darkness. Jesus love contrasts and use word pictures to convey the truth that would otherwise be missed. The best communicators are not those that make it sound complicated. They're the ones who make the complicated some simple Jesus is the best ever.

He's warning his followers about being caught up in the lesser loyalty.

In this case the last word of the passage verse 24 is well possessions stop tangible things we can purchase and own and must maintain now understand the difference. Some people read these words and and they warned about Jesus prohibiting against having any possession so they encourage living like a hermit at the middle of nowhere, owning nothing, just to close on your back and that's enough.

Nowhere in the Bible are we forbidden from owning some solid Jesus is teaching the Bible again and again encourages wise planning and being careful with possessions.

Jesus kept breaking things down for his audience, giving them the truth. In simple terms, anyone could understand. And there's much more from this passage in Matthew six to discover your listening to Insight for living in a message Chuck Swindoll has titled the lure of a lesser loyalty and to learn more about this ministry or these messages, please visit us online@insightworld.org maybe you felt the tension between serving God and earning a living will to help you cultivate a healthy balance will remind you, Chuck has written an in-depth book on this topic and others. It's all based on Jesus teaching through his sermon on the Mount trucks book is titled simple faith in simple faith. Chuck dispels the myth that spiritual maturity means that we submit ourselves to the never-ending requirements of rule oriented religion.

That's what the Pharisees did Jesus call them out on in his uncomplicated style.

Chuck describes the joy of being freed from the burden of performance-based religion. If you're tired of trying to meet the expectations of others or even the impossible once you set for yourself, then you'll appreciate the liberating principles and trucks book simple faith to purchase a copy right now because if you're listening in the US dial 1-800-772-8888 or go directly to Insight.org/store.

In addition, you might like to add the message called finding healing through forgiveness.

This is a complete unabridged recording message Chuck delivered, including a stirring personal testimony from his wife Cynthia in this message Chuck helps us understand what it means to face our deepest insecurities that are often expressed in fear, anger and resentment.

Then Cynthia describes how she found healing from these damaging emotions through a humbling process of seeking forgiveness so to resources at your disposal today.

First textbook on Jesus sermon of all sermons called simple faith in second a message called finding healing through forgiveness to purchase either resource or both.

Call your listening in the United States dial 1-800-772-8888 or go online to Insight.org/store. Join us again tomorrow. Chuck Swindoll continues his message about the lure of the lesser loyalty right here on Insight for living. The preceding message. The lure of a lesser loyalty was copyrighted in 2015 and 2021 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll. All rights reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited