“No servant 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.” BEcho February 15, 1889, par. 1
There is no union or sympathy between God and mammon. The tendency of the one is exactly opposite to that of the other. While the world is master of the thoughts, principles, and actions, the Lord cannot be honored. The current of the world sets in against the soul with such force that it is borne along with the tide of its interests and infatuations. Satan, the angel of evil, the arch-enemy of truth, the father of lies, having successfully carried out his plan of ruining a holy race, follows up his advantage, and strives by every means to hinder the salvation of man and his re-instatement in the favor of God. He keeps the mind preoccupied with the plans and ambitions of the world; and heaven and Christ are crowded out of the thoughts and affections. BEcho February 15, 1889, par. 2
Satan presents the same temptations today that he presented to Adam, and to Jesus, the second Adam, who overcame him and made it possible for man to overcome. The indulgence of perverted appetite and passion has held sway over the world since Adam’s transgression. It was impossible for man to overcome in his own strength, with his enfeebled moral powers. He might exercise all the capabilities of his nature, and yet, without divine aid, he could only be conquered; but help has been laid upon One who is mighty to save. Man’s efforts and Christ’s power will bring him off a conqueror. The moral image of God will be restored in the characters of those who serve him. BEcho February 15, 1889, par. 3
The next temptation that assailed Christ was on lust for power. The world is filled with this desire, and the resulting strife shows the spirit of the ambition of this world. How many have been swept to ruin in this torrent of pride! Satan presents all the kingdoms of the world, in all their pomp and majesty, to the Son of God; but he repels the tempter with, “It is written.” The word of God marks out the course of his children, and rather than disobey his commandments, Christ resigned the treasures of the world. BEcho February 15, 1889, par. 4
How many today see the force and beauty of the truth; but they cannot serve God and mammon, and they hold to the world. The truth requires the sacrifice of the world’s honor, their position in business, their daily bread; and they falter and fail. They do not consider the promises of God to those who seek first the kingdom of heaven. They raise the excuse, “I cannot be different from those around me. What will people say?” “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?” We must not study how to serve ourselves, but how to do the will of God. Christ left his glory, and clothed his divinity with humanity. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. For our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. And yet, after this great manifestation of love on the part of Heaven, we are reluctant to yield our meager treasures, so soon to pass away. The majority of the world sell their souls for a little worldly gain, when Christ has presented to us eternal riches. BEcho February 15, 1889, par. 5
Did not Jesus entreat, “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”? BEcho February 15, 1889, par. 6
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