Matthew 6:24

2 . The world must not stand in competition with God, Matthew 6:24-34.

24. Two masters If the masters indeed agree perfectly, it is essentially one master. But here two signifies opposing. They are two, (as two masters ever will be,) not only in number, but in interest; and the poor slave or worshipper is under a conflicting jurisdiction, where one authority commands and another prohibits.

Mammon There is no proof that Mammon was the name of a Syrian false god, or really an idol deity at all. Augustine says it is a Punic word signifying gain. The word was used in later and corrupt Hebrew for wealth. It is here personified by our Lord as the rival to the true God an antigod of this world, He is the supreme Dollar of the day.

Hate… love In the heart. Hold to… despise In the external conduct. Either in heart, or in action, or both, one of the masters will be sole master. Serve As a slave or a worshipper. You cannot serve both; but you may make God your Lord, and Mammon your servant.

But if God alone must be worshipped, and Mammon despised, what will become of our support for life?

Our Lord now meets the question. Be not anxious about the matter; the duty is your part, the care is God’s. He who has adjusted his providential care to the bird, (which, indeed, hunts his food, yet lives by faith,) and to the lily, (that, indeed, struggles to gather moisture, and yet depends on God to paint her texture,) will also adjust his care for you, his chosen servants. Perform, indeed, every duty in the world; then leave all the care to God, and rise to the true dignity of the true man of faith, who brings the world beneath his feet and sets God above all. This is the true place of human excellence and of divine repose.