Richard Ellis Talks

Guest (Male): Today on Richard Ellis Talks.

Richard Ellis: When he says something, we obey. That means you don't buy anything without permission. That means you give when you're told to give. That means you do whatever he says, even if it seems absurd. And you have enough working, walking relationship with him that when you hear it, you know it's him and you just obey.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. We're so grateful you tuned into the program. Richard wants to share with you some encouragement, words of hope, and probably a laugh or two. And in today's complicated busy life, that's exactly what's needed. Richard's talks are always straight from the Bible, filled with truth. Now, you may not be able to hang out with us for the entire program, but you can always pick it back up at our website, richardellis.com. In fact, you can find all of Richard's talks right there waiting just for you, richardellis.com. So, with today's talk, here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is The Masters. You know, you don't have to be a huge sports fan, lover of or player of golf to know about The Masters. If you follow golf, you know there's nothing quite like it. For years before I even played golf, I watched The Masters. There was just something about it. There's something intriguing about men committing their lives to hitting a 1.6-in ball with long sticks in a 4 and 1/4 in hole for a blazer. If it's just something you do and not who you are, you have a better chance of surviving the pursuit.

So, I'd like you to turn to Matthew chapter 6. And I'm going to talk to you about The Masters out of the Bible. Matthew chapter 6. And we're actually going to jump down to some verses and then we're going to go back to the first verse. Down in verse 24. And this is what Jesus says. No one, and when he says no one, that means no one. No one can serve two masters. Now, the word master here means lord, supreme in authority. That is controller by implication, God, lord, master. In some ways, sir, it's a term of respect.

But it is supreme, primarily supreme authority. You cannot have two supreme authorities in your life and live your life. So, people that say, well, I'm kind of on the fence and I serve God some of the time and I don't some of the time and, you know, I kind of have two masters. Jesus said, no one can serve two masters. Now, this word here, serve. The word that we get for the word slave comes from this word. So, now, he's interjected, no one can be a slave to two masters. So, if you've read this, you say, well, he's going to talk about money.

You're going to wish I talked about money. Cuz money is a symptomatic problem of the Masters problem. So, this is going to be pretty focused, a little bit narrow. And hopefully by the time we're done, you're going to have some answers about your own life, about what's going on with The Masters. And then he goes on in verse 24, 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 in something called mammon here.

Okay? So, mammon is described as money, wealth, material possessions. Can also be defined as gluttony, greed, and dishonest worldly gain. It could be also an idol of materialism. So, you decide that I'm going to have, I am going to get, I am going to be, let's say what you're going to be is rich, and you pursue that and that becomes the master of your life. And so everything you are literally a slave to that. You say, oh, it's not me. Give it a minute. If we were to give you a mammon gram, how would you come out?

Hook you up to a machine and let's see what's in there. You say, well, I'm clean. I don't have any greed. I don't have any You know what? Let's let the Holy Spirit decide that. So, part of what we're doing today as we go through this, and then what I'm going to encourage you to do after the fact is say, okay, Lord, what's going on with me? And if you did give me some kind of mammon gram, would I pass the test? Let me spend a moment on these words. For you will either hate the one and love the other.

The word here for hate is to detest. So, you're either going to detest the one and love the other. And the word there for love is the word we get the agape kind of love. Or you're going to be loyal to, which means to hold oneself opposite to, care for, support, hold fast, hold to the one and then despise the other. And that word think against that is disesteem or despise. So, you say, well, I got both. You can't be loving two people and despising and hating two people at the same time and keep them both happy.

So, if God is your master and you serve him literally like being a slave to him, then you're going to do what he says and that's going to be your life. You say, but what if he's in control of my life? That's is probably what you're saying we should do. What if he's in control of my life and he says I'm going to be poor? Shouldn't be a problem. Cuz the Bible promises you are going to have food and clothing and talks about We'll read them in a minute. The verse about being content with just that.

Now, here's where if you're starting to be uncomfortable, you're going to get really uncomfortable because what you might come back and say is I'm not okay with that. If contentment is what my Lord, this master says I should be okay with, I am not okay with that. I'm getting me a new master. There's a good chance you already have a new master. You don't have to go getting a new one. You already got one. Now, go back up to verse 1. And I'm not going to read this whole chapter, but I want you to see some context.

Jesus here speaking about a number of things. The first thing he addresses them here in this sermon, he says, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So, what's the point here? It's an advance of avarice. You say, what do you mean? Greedy people are normally not givers. They are takers. So, you say, well, then why would they give charitable contributions? They do it in public to advance their public persona so that people will see, oh, he's such a great person and then maybe they'll want to do business with him and then maybe they will get richer.

See, when you do it God's way, your right and left hand don't even know what's going on. You're trying to figure out ways to sneak money to something God told you to give it to without the other hand knowing it happened. Now, does it ever mean that you can't give something and someone know you give it? No, it doesn't say that completely, but you should make an attempt at that because your reward comes from doing it his way, not your way. Even in the He's teaching them to pray. And we've had a conversation around here recently.

I think everybody knows the Our Father prayer. They don't. And it's not a bad prayer to memorize. If you don't know it, I recommend play it on your phone, whatever you got to do. This is a good one to have a basic thing the things that are covered here. But the Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be your name. He gets down he says, give us this day our daily bread. What did he teach them to pray for? He didn't say help me get rich. Daily bread, basic stuff. Now, you say, well, then I have money.

Is that a bad thing? I don't know. I don't know. Paul said, I've learned to be abased and I've learned to abound. People think, oh, I'd have to It would take me a while to get used to being poor. Some people are really good at it. But then some people get stuff, get money, and they have to learn that. And sometimes it's harder to learn how to have stuff and money and blessing than it was to be poor. Because with all that, you start thinking maybe I'm all that. Here's a great little phrase. If you're blessed in maybe you're rolling in something that's a little nicer than somebody else's, whatever a good thing, your house is nice, your clothes are nice, remember this.

You are not better. You are blessed. And if you get those things confused and think I'm better than somebody else, God have mercy on your soul because if you're his child, he will get your attention because he cares about you and he wants to be your only master. Daily bread, go down to verse 19. And I don't know where this hits you, but here we go. 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 destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. You see what we're talking about giving? I am not saying anything much about giving. I am talking about where your heart is. Treasure, treasure, treasure, treasure, pile, pile, pile, pile, pile. If you've got more stuff on this side than you got on the other side, you're in trouble. You say, well, how would you know that? If you got more on the other side, you would know that. Well, how do I get treasure on the other side? You get you the right master. Anybody want to keep going or we done?

Here we go. Verse 22. Now, I've kind of wondered before what was this little piece in here for, but it all goes together. 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? Then he says, no one can serve two masters. So, how do you see the world? Do you wake up every day and look and you get in your car and you see someone else's car and go, I need that car?

You drive by somebody's house and go, I need that house? And it's always about something else. It's never enough. There's no contentment. It's just got to be more because what you have is not enough. What that says is your master is not taking care of you. To want what someone else has, to be greedy, to be just constantly coveting other people's stuff says, you know what? What God has provided for me is not enough. You say, well, is it wrong to want something nicer? No. But when that becomes your master and you do everything in your life, you'll sacrifice your marriage, your family, whatever you got to sacrifice to chase down something that'll get you something else, then you've lost your mind.

And then he goes into this, no one can serve two masters. But keep going. Go down to verse 25. So, he says this about you can't serve two masters. Then he says, therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink. So, these are basic things, eat and drink. And this has to work for the whole world. So, anybody reading the Bible goes, okay, I get what he's saying. And some people this is their basic challenge. What are they going to eat or drink? Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on it.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? And that's a good question. Is there more to your life than food and clothing? You say, well, not really. Some place to hang all that stuff and put all that stuff. And for some people there isn't anything beyond that. Then he says, 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, when you see people worrying about these kind of things, this is what it tells you.

Their master can't handle their life. They got a bad master, bad master, not taking care of me the way you should be. So, I'm going to get all worried cuz we don't have enough. Now, God providing for you, literally God can open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that you can't even receive. I've experienced it. It's just in the scriptures. God's problem is not being able to provide for his people. God's biggest challenge is God's people trusting him for that provision. Instead of taking matters into our own hands and saying, well, my master is not taking care of me, I am going to go get a new master and give my life to that new master, be a slave to that because that's the only way I'm going to solve what I'm worrying about.

And so then you stop talking to who should be your master, God himself, and you go to your little idol master and say, fix the problem. And that master says, work harder. Get another job, get another job, get a bigger house, get a better car. Boom, boom, boom. All of a sudden he's got you going. And you stop talking to the other master because you can't serve both of them. So, now, you're worried sick and this new master is not a good master. And he'll try to kill you as you try to serve that new master.

Keep reading. 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? And then look what he addresses them with. Oh, you of little faith.

So, what's the problem? We don't believe he can take care of us. We don't believe he cares about us. This is basic stuff. I am owned by a master who's job it is to take care of me and I fundamentally don't think he's going to take care of me. And beyond that, he doesn't even care about me. What kind of God is that? Where did you get that God? Of course you're going to ditch that kind of God for whatever you've made up, mammon. Unless somebody explains to you, look, that's not how God works. Trust him.

Don't be someone of little faith. Have great faith and see how he shows up. Keep reading verse 31. Therefore do not worry saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. That's what they're focused on. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. It's not a surprise. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot that. Got to get them food and clothing and something to drink. Of course he knows that. Like a parent knows that basic stuff. He's God. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to it.

They're just going to be byproducts of your seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Go to Luke chapter 6 verse 46. Back to this master word. Some places it's translated lord. Luke 6:46 Jesus says, but why do you call me lord, lord and not do the things which I say? What are the basic implications of having a master, a lord? It's that when he says something, we obey. That means you don't buy anything without permission.

That means you give when you're told to give. That means you do whatever he says, even if it seems absurd. And you have enough working, walking relationship with him that when you hear it, you know it's him and you just obey. You say, well, what's going to happen? It doesn't matter. He's going to take care of you no matter what cuz he is the best master. What if he asks for something ridiculous? He gave something ridiculous. He knows what this looks like. And in some cases, what does he require? Some people lose their very lives.

They're martyred for this. You say, well, I'm not willing to go that far. And why not? Well, that's everything. And that's what he requires, everything. That's what being a slave and having a master is. Now, see, I'm throwing this slave master thing around. And there are a lot of groups of people don't like these words. I'm okay with that. I just want you to understand the nature of this beast because it's not a beast that you think it is. And in biblical times, a slave could come to a point in their serving, whether they had debt, whatever it was, but that slave would be set free.

And the slave could go into the public square and get his or her ear notched. And what that meant was that that slave had made a decision having been set free to go back and serve the master that they had because no one was going to take better care of them than the master they had that set them free. That's a picture of being a Christian. He dies on a cross, buried, raised from the dead. He says, you're forgiven. You're free. You can even go live like hell if you want to. I'm going to love you anyway.

And then pretty soon you go, wait a minute. I'm using up this amazing race. This is expensive stuff. And then you start realizing, I can't take better care of me than he can. And mammon is not going to take better care of me than he can. I can only serve one master. I'm going home. I'm going back to that master cuz he's the only master that works. And then the heat's off of you. Then it's not your money. It's not your stuff. Then if he says give it away, you give it away. If he says you can get that, you have it.

I've had people give me something that I had to get permission to receive. Permission to receive. Lord, is this from you? And can I handle this? And can I actually receive this? And had to get permission because sometimes the enemy can give you stuff to destroy your life. So, don't accept everything everybody hands out cuz it may be the worst thing that ever happened to you. Pray about everything. Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say? Go to 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. So, go down to verse 6.

So, you say, well, I'm going to do something that's profitable. Well, here you go. Now, godliness with contentment is great gain. You're a godly person and you're a content person. That is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain It is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money. And please don't misquote these verses.

I see this all the time. Money is the root of all evil. You don't have that anywhere in the Bible. The love of money is the root of all evil or all kinds of evil. You can translate it. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. So, you say, well, I I've been blessed. I work hard and everything's in balance and I have money. That's great. Good for you. Excited for you. You can handle it.

Not everybody can handle it. But there's a moment. I remember sitting with a guy. He at the time was probably worth $500 million. And I talked to him and said, okay, what's the next thing? And then what do you do next? He says, well, you know, I think this is enough. I was like, oh, okay, that sounds reasonable. But then he said, you know, there's just something You know, if I can make $500 million, I can make a billion. Now, you say, well, what would be wrong with that? I don't know. What are you going to do with it?

What's your plan? What's your purpose? And who told you to pursue that in the first place? Because that's a tremendous responsibility. And then all of a sudden I see some guys that are men and women just get a lot of money and then they get bored. And then all of a sudden in too many cases they get in trouble. It's right here in the scripture. And you say, well, that doesn't always happen. I didn't say it did. I'm just saying be careful. For some people poor ends up being a lot safer way. Although I don't think poor is really the best word.

Content with what you have because poor is not a good thing. And by the way, if you think you're poor and you have food and clothing, you are blessed. You are not poor. Don't use the wrong word to define yourself. Cuz the master is taking care of you according to the book. You say, but people have more. It's not the point. He's given you what you need right now. Be content with that. You say, well, I don't like it. Then you got a problem with your master. And if you're not careful, you'll ditch that one master and take off serving another one and it's all going to get crazy as though it weren't already.

Verse 11. 1 Timothy 6. But you, oh man of God, Paul writing to Timothy, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life to which you are also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. And he goes on to telling him how to live. So, let me ask you a question. Are you the Masters? If I could spiritually examine your ear, would we go he, she belongs to him. One master. I know who he is and they serve him well.

Are you the Masters? And he knows it and you know it and that's how you live your life. Now, if the answer to that question is no, I don't belong to him. I have picked another master, then just own that. Just say, God, this is crazy stuff. This is terrible. This is catastrophic. I have given myself to someone else. I have trusted another master that's not even a living thing. Think about this. Mammon, what is it? It's stuff. It's a feeling. It's an object. It's just more for the wrong reasons. And you'll serve as a slave that lord, that master.

And you say, I don't want to live that anymore. Then make a switch. You say, well, what's that going to cost me? I don't know. It could cost you everything, but it's already costing you everything to have the wrong master. Now, I understand this may not be as fun as some messages because I'm digging. I'm reading you verses that will disembowel you. They'll go down inside and find out who we really are, what is really going on, and where you have to ask hard questions and we have to start looking around going, okay, what is this about?

And if I don't keep up with whoever you decided you had to keep up with, then you lose. You lose if you don't have the right master. Stop trying to keep up with people who don't even know what the race is about. It means nothing. And someone is always going to have more. If you've ever been in a port where there's big boats, there's nothing quite like or an airport, nothing quite like the guy with 150 ft yacht pulls in. He is one bad mammer jammer. And he whips in this little cove and there's a 250 ft yacht.

He just puts it in reverse once out of there because he got beat. And now he's consumed with I've got to have a bigger yacht. You say, well, that's stupid stuff. Then why are we doing the same thing on different levels, just less zeros in our own lives? To impress people we don't even know and they don't care. They don't even notice. I'm more interested in impressing him. Impress him with your godliness, your faith, your trust in him, your contentment, your dependence on him, in having joy with food and clothing and people go, wow, how do you do that?

Well, because I got the best master in the world. And even if I don't have everything everybody else has here, I got a carpenter building me a house in heaven. So, I'm not going to be here that long and I'm going to do whatever he wants me to do here, but nobody's going to beat that house there. So, I'll wait a little while and just trust my master that he knows what he's doing.

Guest (Male): Richard will be back in a moment to wrap up today's talk. But first, I want to share a couple thoughts with you. Let's be honest. Real life isn't about living some highlight reel for others to see. Most people have deep hurts, questions, and struggles. We get it and want to help you in any way we can. So, let's keep this conversation going. Give us a call at 855-6 Richard or connect with us at our website, richardellis.com. You can even put in your prayer request right there on the prayer wall so others can pray for you as well.

Call us at 855-6 Richard or online at richardellis.com. And now let's get back to Richard with a final word on today's show.

Richard Ellis: Philippians chapter 2. Philippians 2 verse 9. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that what? Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is the master. And the plan is for me and for you to be the Masters because he's the best master.

Guest (Male): Thanks for tuning in today to Richard Ellis Talks. We all have busy schedules these days, so it means the world to us that you would take this time to listen. Richard would love to know how today 's talk has touched your heart, so give us a call at 855-6 Richard, 855-6 Richard. You can also share your story with us at our website, richardellis.com. One last thing, Richard Ellis Talks is a daily program that is always expanding to reach the world with the good news of the gospel, but it also has daily costs. And being a listener supported program like ours means we rely on the financial partnership of our listeners, which means you.

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