No one can serve two masters: Oudeis dunatai (3SPPI) dusi kuriois douleuein; (PAN)  (Mt 4:10; Joshua 24:15,19,20; 1 Samuel 7:3; 1 Kings 18:21; 2 Kings 17:33,34,41; Ezekiel 20:39; Zephaniah 1:5; Luke 16:13; Romans 6:16-22; Galatians 1:10; 2 Timothy 4:10; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15,16)

No one (3762) (oudeis from ou = not +dé = but + heis = one) means literally "but absolutely not one", and emphasizes not even one or not the least. Absolutely no man has the inherent ability to be a slave to two owners.

Spurgeon illustrates the necessity of on single mindedness...

Suppose you see a lake, and there are twenty or thirty streams running into it. Why, there will not be one strong river in the whole country; there will be a number of little brooks which will be dried up in the summer and will be temporary torrents in winter. Every one of them will be useless for any great purpose because there is not enough water in the lake to feed more than one great stream. Now, a man’s heart has only enough life in it to pursue one object fully. You must not give half your love to Christ and the other half to the world. “No man can serve two masters...Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24).

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Two opinions in the matter of soul-religion you cannot hold. If God is God, serve Him, and do it thoroughly. However, if this world is God, serve it, and make no profession of religion. If you think the things of the world the best, serve them. But remember, if the Lord is your God, you cannot have Baal, too; you must have one thing or else the other. “No man can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24). If God is served, He will be a master. If the devil is served, it will not be long before he will be a master, and “no man can serve two masters.” Oh! Be wise, and think not that the two can be mingled together. (Daily Help)

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This is often misunderstood. Some read it, "No man can serve two masters." Yes he can; he can serve three or four. The way to read it is this: "No man can serve two masters." He can serve two, but they cannot both be his master.

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When the Romans erected the statue of Christ and put it up in their pantheon, saying that He should be one among their gods, their homage was worthless. And when they turned their heads, first to Jupiter, then to Venus, and then to Jesus Christ, they did no honor to our Lord; they did but dishonor Him. Their service was not acceptable. And so if you imagine in your heart that you can sometimes serve God and sometimes serve self and be your own master, you have made a mistake.

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God and mammon cannot abide in the same house (Matt. 6:24). You serve a jealous God (Exod. 34:14), so be very careful not to provoke Him to jealousy. Every idol must be cast down, and the Lord must be before all things in our worship, or His comfortable presence cannot be enjoyed.

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Now this is often misunderstood. Some read it, "No man can serve two." Yes, he can-he can serve three or four. The way to read it is this, "No man can serve two masters." They cannot both be masters. He can serve two, but they cannot both be his master. A man can serve two who are not his masters, or even twenty. He may live for twenty different purposes, but he cannot live for more than one master purpose. There can only be one master purpose in his soul. (Ed note: What is the "master purpose" you are living for?)

However, Balaam labored to serve two. It was like the people of whom it was said, "They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods." (2 Kings 17:33). Or like Rufus, who was cut from the same cloth. You know our old king Rufus painted God on one side of his shield and the devil on the other, and had underneath the motto: "Ready for both; catch who can."

There are many such people who are ready for both. They meet a minister, and how pious and holy they are! On the Sabbath, you would think they are the most respectable and upright people in the world. Indeed, they affect a drawling in their speech which they presume to be eminently religious. But on a week day, if you want to find the greatest rogues and cheats, they are some of those men who are so sanctimonious in their piety.

Now, rest assured that no confession of sin can be genuine unless it is a wholehearted one. It is of no use for you to say, "I have sinned," and then keep on sinning. "I have sinned," say you, and it is a fair, fair face you show. But, alas, for the sin you will go away and commit!

Some men seem to be born with two characters. I remarked when in the library at Trinity College, Cambridge, about a very fine statue of Lord Byron. The librarian said to me, "Stand here, sir." I looked and said, "What a fine intellectual countenance! What a grand genius he was!" "Come here," the librarian said, "to the other side." "Ah, what a demon! There stands the man that could defy the Deity." He seemed to have such a scowl and such a dreadful leer in his face, even as Milton would have painted Satan when he said, "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." I turned away and asked the librarian, "Do you think the artist designed this?" "Yes," he said, "he wished to picture the two characters-the great, the grand, the almost superhuman genius that he possessed, and yet the enormous mass of sin that was in his soul."

There are some men of the same sort. I dare say, like Balaam, they would overthrow everything in argument with their enchantments. They could work miracles, and yet at the same time there is something about them which betrays a horrid character of sin, as great as that which would appear to be their character for righteousness. Balaam, you know, offered sacrifices to God upon the altar of Baal. That was just his character type. So many do the same. They offer sacrifices to God on the shrine of Mammon; while they will give to the building of a church and distribute to the poor, they will at the other door of the counting house grind the poor for bread and press the very blood out of the widow, that they may enrich themselves.

Ah! It is idle and useless for you to say, "I have sinned," unless you mean it from your heart. That double-minded man’s confession is of no avail.

Vernard Eller rightly said that...

One's ultimate loyalty must converge at a single point. To try to go two ways at once will rip a person down the middle.

Remember Jesus' words to Martha...

Only one thing is necessary (Luke 10:42)

Can (1410) (dunamai) means to have power by virtue of inherent ability and resources and thus to be able. The present tense indicates that no one can as a habit of their life serve two masters. Wuest renders it...

No one is able to be habitually serving two masters,

If they do they will have a divided allegiance.

Serve (1398) (douleuo from doulos) means to be a slave to or be in bondage. Jesus' point is that our will will be enslaved by either God or materialism ("mamon").  Either Jesus Christ is our Lord, or money is our lord, but both cannot be lord at the same time.

William Barclay explains that...

To understand al that this means and implies we must remember two things about the slave in the ancient world. First, the slave in the eyes of the law was not a person but a thing. He had absolutely no rights of his own; his master could do with him absolutely as he liked. In the eyes of the law the slave was a living tool. His master could sell him, beat him, throw him out, and even kill him. His master possessed him as completely as he possessed any of his material possessions. Second, in the ancient world a slave had literally no time which was his own. Every moment of his life belonged to his master... The slave had literally no moment of time which belonged to himself. Every moment belonged to his owner and was at his owner’s disposal... In regard to God we have no rights of our own; God must be undisputed master of our lives. We can never ask, “What do I wish to do?” We must always ask, “What does God wish me to do?” We have no time which is our own. We cannot sometimes say, “I will do what God wishes me to do,” and, at other times, say, “I will do what I like.” The Christian has no time off from being a Christian; there is no time when he can relax his Christian standards, as if he was off duty. A partial or a spasmodic service of God is not enough. Being a Christian is a whole-time job. Nowhere in the Bible is the exclusive service which God demands more clearly set forth. (Barclay, W: The Gospel of Matthew The New Daily Study Bible Westminster John Knox Press)

Master (2962) (kurious from kúros = might, power) describes one who has absolute ownership and uncontrolled power. Kurious signifies sovereign power and authority.

John Piper writes that in Mt 6:19-24 Jesus is saying that...

Evidently there are two ways to live: you can live with a view to accumulating valuable things on earth, or you can live with a view to accumulating valuable things in heaven. Jesus says: the mark of a Christian is that his eyes are on heaven and he measures all his behavior by what effect it will have on heaven – everlasting joy with God.

And something else is clear: laying up treasures in heaven and laying up treasures on earth are not good bedfellows. You have to choose between them. You can’t say, "Well how about both?" That’s the point of verse 24: "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

There is something about God and money that makes them tend to mastery. Either you are mastered by money and therefore ignore God or make him a bellhop for your business, or you are mastered by God and make money a servant of the kingdom. But if either tries to master you while you are mastered by the other you will hate and despise it. This is why Jesus said it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Much money makes a cruel master. (Matthew 6:19-34: Don’t Be Anxious, Lay Up Treasures in Heaven)

Spurgeon gave these illustrations of the dangers of mammon...

A holy woman was wont to say of the rich—"They are hemmed round with no common misery; they go down to hell without thinking of it, because their staircase thither is of gold and porphyry." (Feathers for Arrows)

Crossing the Col D'Obbia, the mule laden with our luggage sank in the snow, nor could it be recovered until its load was removed; then, but not till then, it scrambled out of the hole it had made, and pursued its journey. It reminded us of mariners casting out the lading into the sea to save the vessel, and we were led to meditate upon the dangers of Christians heavily laden with earthly possessions, and the wise way in which the gracious Father unloads them by their losses that they may be enabled to pursue their journey to heaven, and no longer sink in the snow of carnal-mindedness. (Feathers for Arrows)

There cannot be two master principles in a man’s heart, or master passions in a man’s soul.

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: e gar ton ena misesei (3SFAI) kai ton heteron agaphesei, (3SFAI) e enos anthexetai kai tou (3SFMI) heterou kataphronesei; (3SFAI) ou dunasthe (2PPPI) theo douleuein (PAN) kai mamona.   (Luke 16:9,11,13; 1 Timothy 6:9,10,17)

Hate (3404) (miseo from misos = hatred) means dislike strongly, with the implication of aversion and hostility. Miseo usually implies active ill will in words and conduct.

Love (25) (agapao) means to love unconditionally and sacrificially love.

Devoted (472) (antechomai from antí = against  + echo = have, hold) means literally to hold oneself face to face with. The idea of this verb in the present verse is to strongly cling or adhere to, to hold firmly, to cleave to and then to join with and to maintain loyalty to.

Despise (2706) (kataphroneo from katá = down or against + phronéo = think) means literally to think down upon or against and so to despise, to think lightly of, to neglect, to not care for, to hold in contempt or to feel contempt for someone or something because it is thought to be bad or without value

Wealth (mammon) (3126) (mamonas) is a transliteration of an Aramaic word meaning wealth, riches or earthly good. In the present context uses it to personify wealth or riches.

Mammon is the comprehensive word for all kinds of possessions, earnings, and gains, a designation of material value and materialism. Mammon per se does not carry a negative value, but as used here Jesus clearly is using it in a negative context.

Many people may think they possess mammon or wealth, but Jesus shows that more often the mammon owns the person. People end up serving mammon rather than mammon serving them. They are possessed by their possessions! Mammon is a stern master who holds its subjects firmly in its grip as it did the rich young ruler in Mt 19:21-23 who had asked "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?"....

Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieved; for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 19:21-23)

Vine writes that mammon is the word

Mamonas, a common Aramaic word for riches, akin to a Hebrew word signifying to be firm, stedfast (whence Amen), hence, that which is to be trusted; Gesenius regards it as derived from a Heb. word signifying “treasure” (Gen. 43:23);

The TDNT agrees with Vine writing that

"mamomas seems to come from an Aramaic noun which most probably derives from the root 'mn ("that in which one trusts")" (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.  Eerdmans)

Mamon then can refer to anything in which one puts his trust (which is really just another name for an idol, which in turn is a "false god", which is in essence anything that gets between us and God so that we don't focus on Him. Greed for example amounts to idolatry).

William Barclay adds that...

Originally it was not a bad word at all. The Rabbis, for instance, had a saying, “Let the mamon of thy neighbor be as dear to thee as thine own.” That is to say, a man should regard his neighbor’s material possessions as being as sacrosanct as his own. But the word mamon had a most curious and a most revealing history. It comes from a root which means to entrust; and mamon was that which a man entrusted to a banker or to a safe deposit of some kind. Mamon was the wealth which a man entrusted so someone to keep safe for him. But as the years went on mamon came to mean, not that which is entrusted, but that in which a man puts his trust. The end of the process was that mamon came to be spelled with a capital M and came to be regarded as nothing less than a god. The history of that word shows vividly how material possessions can usurp a place in life which they were never meant to have. Originally a man’s material possessions were the things which he entrusted to someone else for safe-keeping; in the end they came to be the things in which a man puts his trust. Surely there is no better description of a man’s god, than to say that his god is the power in whom he trusts; and when a man puts his trust in material things, then material things have become, not his support, but his god... One thing emerges from all this—the possession of wealth, money, material things is not a sin, but it is a grave responsibility. If a man owns many material things it is not so much a matter for congratulation as it is a matter for prayer, that he may use them as God would have him to do. (Barclay, W: The Gospel of Matthew The New Daily Study Bible Westminster John Knox Press)

Colin Brown writes that...

A number of etymologies have been suggested... Hauck prefers to link it with the verb. 'aman as “that in which one trusts”, but Nestle suggests that it might also mean what is entrusted to man, or that which supports and nourishes men. The Syriac lexicographers favoured the latter view. In Luke16:11 there is an apparent play on words with this root: “If then you have not been faithful [pistoi] in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust [pisteusei] to you the true [alethinon] riches?” The three Gk. words pistoi, pisteusei and alethinon all appear to translate words from the same root 'mn from which mammon appears to be formed. This root is also found in Amen.

In rabbinic writing (mamonas) means not merely money in the strict sense but a man’s possessions, everything that has value equivalent to money, and even all that he possesses apart from his body and life. In itself the word may be neutral, but it acquired in negative contexts the connotation of possessions dishonestly gained and wealth dishonestly used, as in bribery. (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan)

The ISBE writes that mammon is...

The Greek transliteration of the common Aramaic term māmônā (the emphatic state of the noun māmôn), meaning wealth of any kind. The meaning, however, is clear; it refers to wealth, property, anything of value. The word appears frequently in the Targums and rabbinic literature. Although the word could be applied to something gained dishonestly, it had no bad connotation in Jewish usage. It referred simply to property in general. This makes Jesus’ statements about mammon all the more arresting, because He always used it in a derogatory sense.

In Matthew 6:24 and in Luke 16:9,11,13. the Aramaic term  mammon was retained and was personified as a master in direct and unequivocal opposition to God. The context refers to a slave who becomes the property of two owners and finds that divided loyalties are impossible. Similarly, one cannot devote oneself to making money (we still are called to word and support our families but this is not to be our focus) and to serving God at the same time.

Robert Hall once wrote the word “God” on a small slip of paper, showed it to a friend, and asked whether he could read it. He replied, “Yes.” He then covered the word with a coin, and again asked, “Can you see it?” and was answered, “No.” He did this to show his friend how easy it is for the world to shut out of the mind a sight and sense of God. The love of riches may so fill the mind that there is no place in it for the great God of the universe. In the view of such a mind, a coin is larger than God.

Spurgeon wrote about...

A gentleman of Boston (U. S.), an intimate friend of Professor Agassiz, once expressed his wonder that a man of such abilities as he (Agassiz) possessed should remain contented with such a moderate income. "I have enough," was Agassiz's reply. "I have not time to make money. Life is not sufficiently long to enable a man to get rich, and do his duty to his fellow men at the same time." Christian, have you time to serve your God and yet to give your whole soul to gaining wealth? The question is left for conscience to answer. (Feathers for Arrows)

Matthew Henry illustrates how these two masters are in diametric opposition to one another...

Ray Pritchard offers some practical thoughts on these two masters...

It’s not wrong to own a bicycle, even a nice one, but it’s wrong if your bicycle owns you. It’s not wrong to own a big home, a summerhouse, a motorcycle, nice clothes, fine jewelry, an expensive sound system, a fishing boat, or any of the other marks of success in modern life. None of those things is inherently evil. You can enjoy them as long as you understand that everything you have belongs to God, and the things you have are only temporarily loaned to you by the Lord. It’s not wrong to own nice things, but you are in a dangerous place when those nice things own you. How do you know when something “owns” you?

§ When you need that “thing” as a major source of happiness or fulfillment in your life.
§ When you can’t imagine living without it.
§ When you get angry at the thought of losing it.
§ When that possession is the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing you think about at night.
§ When you find yourself thinking about it in every spare moment.
§ When you are gripped with fear at the thought of losing it.
§ When you find yourself bringing it up in almost every conversation.
§ When you get upset if someone else touches it or comes near it.
§ When you plan your schedule around it.
§ When you enjoy that “thing” more than being with family and friends.
§ When others warn you about your attachment to your possessions.
§ When worries and concerns about your possessions crowd out the joy in your life.

...When you know deep in your soul that something you own has started to own you, give it away. Find someone who needs it and give it to them. Don’t make a big deal about it. Just give it away. You will be free, and someone else will be blessed. And your heart will start to sing again. (Matthew 6:19-34 The Treasure Principle)

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Matt. 6:19-24 THE DISCIPLES' USE OF MONEY
by F B Meyer

THERE are two things which distort our eye-sight, i.e., which hinder the pure intention of the soul: the one is the temptation of the prosperous and well-to-do; the other of the poor, reminding us of the seed that was sown among the thorns. "This is he that heareth the word, and the cares of this world (this is the temptation of the poor and struggling), and the deceitfulness of riches (this is the temptation of those who are endeavouring or beginning to obtain property), choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."

It is of the temptations which accrue in dealing with money that we have now to speak. Our message is to those who, to use the words of the Apostle, desire to be rich. These are they who "fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition" (1 Tim. 6:9).

Our Lord, first, alludes' to the ephemeral 'and destructible character of earthly riches. Oriental wealth consisted largely of magnificently embroidered dresses; and in a land where there were no banks (in our sense of the term), coin would be buried in the earth, often, as in the case of Achan, in a hole dug within the precincts of the house. We are reminded also of the parable of our Lord about the hidden treasure in the field, the owner of which had no idea of the buried wealth that lay beneath the surface of the soil, until the ploughshare came into collision with it, and the metallic ring indicated that he should stay his oxen in order to disentomb the jar of coins, hidden when invasion swept the country, and which the proprietor never returned to claim.

Our Lord remands His hearers that moth or rust will destroy all earthly treasures, and that thieves may at any moment break through the slight clay walls of their homes and carry off their hoarded stores. And surely His words are capable of an extended reference to that "crowned and sceptred thief," who shall one day dig through the clay walls of our mortal house, and take from us the raiment in which we have been attired, the wealth we may have amassed, the shares that stand in our name, the lands that we have purchased at such cost, sending us forth naked and despoiled, stripped of everything, into a world where we shall land as paupers, because we shall have failed to lay up treasure there.

Our Lord could not for a moment have meant to denounce every kind of saving. For instance, the Apostle Paul enjoins on parents the duty of laying up for their children (2 Cor. 12:14). It is surely right for us to take advantage of the great laws of life insurance that we may make a reasonable and moderate provision against old age, and especially that we should, by a small annual payment, secure for those who may survive us an adequate competence. I seriously think that every young man and woman should, in the early years of their life, commence to pay into one of our large insurance offices, so that at the age of fifty-five, or sixty, a sum may be forthcoming which will be of use to them in their declining years, the same sum being paid to mother, wife, or sister, in case of their premature death; and I cannot for a moment believe that the spirit or letter of our Lord's words contradict this item of Christian economics.

It seems also certain that there is nothing in these words of the Master to prohibit the setting apart of a certain sum as capital, which may be used for the development of business, and therefore in the employment of a large number of operatives. Nothing seems to me more beneficent than that a manufacturer should add to his capital, and therefore to his machinery and yearly output, for all this means the widening of his influence and the provision of work to larger numbers of men, women, girls, and lads, the more especially if he contributes to the building up of some garden city, free from the facilities of drink, free from the confinement of the great city, free from the vices which are incident to every great aggregation of humanity, where every home is within sight of trees and flowers, where every working man has his plot of land, and where the children breathe fresh health-giving air.

But neither of these methods of laying aside money is contrary to our Lord's injunction, "Treasure not treasures upon the earth." What He forbids is the amassing of money, not for the use we make of it, not for the securing of our loved ones from anxiety, but for its own sake, to such an extent as that the endeavour to hoard engrosses affections which ought to be fixed on nobler and diviner things, and leads to the concentration of the whole being upon the growing balance in the bank or the increase of Real Estate. In the judgment of eternity it is altogether unworthy of an immortal being to imperil his highest interests, his vision of God, his spiritual power, his peace and blessedness, for things which are so lightly held and easily lost as riches. Granted that the things for which men strive are no longer to be destroyed by moth and rust, or stolen by the night thief, yet the uncertainty of riches is proverbial; at any moment they may take to themselves wings and fly away. A panic on the Stock Exchange, depreciation in the value of securities, some new invention, the diversion of trade from one port to another, or the competition of the foreigner, may in a very brief space cause the carefully hoarded winnings of our lifetime to crumble and subside like the Venice Campanile.

Our Lord might with good reason have denounced the practice of laying up treasure because of the temptation which the desire to gain it involves. When a young man enters life with the one intention of making a fortune as quickly as he can, he is almost sure to begin making it according to the maxims and practices which prevail in the world around him. From afar he sees the goal that beckons, and he is tempted to take the shortest cut to reach it, along a road strewn thick with lies and roguery, with lost reputations and blasted characters. That road is taken by myriads in the mad rush to become rich, irrespective of the misery which may be involved to others, and the injury which is being wrought for themselves. Well may our Lord describe riches as "the unrighteous mammon" (Luke 16:11). Therefore, with the utmost urgency one would reiterate to all who are commencing life, in the words with which the great Apostle to the Gentiles closed one of the last Epistles: "Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not high-minded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."

The amassing of treasure by His disciples

Let us turn now to the reasons which our Lord adduces for His urgent prohibition against the amassing of treasure by His disciples.

First, the hoarding of money induces an inordinate love for it.

"Where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also." There is a strong temptation to the most devout man who begins his life consecrated to God and to the best service of his fellows, when he sees money beginning to accumulate in his possession, to be attracted from the main object of life to his rising pile. Let young business men who bear the name of Christ test themselves, and ask whether their hearts are not being insensibly stolen away. They may not be aware of what is happening. Grey hairs are becoming plentifully strewn upon their heads without their knowing it. The fascination of money is one of the strongest in the whole world. It is almost impossible to handle it, whether it has come down as an inheritance from the past, or has been gained by successful trading in the present, without coming to like it for its own sake, to congratulate oneself when it increases, and to scheme for its further accumulation. Thus the heart becomes unconsciously bound by ever-tightening chains, as the balloon filled with the light gas, and meant to hold commerce with the clouds, chafes at the strong hawsers by which it is held to the earth.

It is not difficult for onlookers to discern the process by which the heart is being weaned away from the Unseen and the Eternal to the temporal and transient. There is a slackening of interest in religious worship and Christian service; an absorption amid the home-circle which shows that the heart is no longer there; a reluctance to part with money that used once to be freely given for home and foreign missions. It becomes increasingly difficult to engage the attention in anything which involves the diversion of time or thought from the bank, the factory, or the store. The process is very subtle; but, on the comparison of years, those who love the tempted and fascinated nature, shake their heads gravely as they realize that the heart is being betrayed to its ruin, and that another life will soon be cast beneath the wheels of the terrible Juggernaut Car of worldly ambition and success.

FIVE TESTS...

There are five tests by which we may become aware whether this parasite is wrapping itself around us. Let us dare to question our hearts, and ask God to search them by His Holy Spirit. These five will suffice:

(1) Do we find our mind going towards the little store of money which we have made, with a considerable amount of complacency, casting up again and again its amount, and calculating how much more may be added in the course of another year? When we are sleepless at night, or sit back in the corner of our railway carriage, do we find ourselves habitually going in the one direction of that growing competence? If so, is it not clear that our heart is being fascinated and attracted?

(2) Does the thought constantly intrude in our mind that there is now less likelihood than ever of our spending the end of our days in a respectable workhouse, or being dependent upon others, even upon God Himself? Do we look back upon the days of early manhood and compare them with the present, feeling that we are becoming independent? Is our trust in God less complete than it used to be? Is there not danger, therefore, of our weak and deceitful heart trusting in these uncertain riches, and being robbed of that simple faith which used to be the charm of earlier days, when we were content to do His work and trust Him for all that was necessary?

(3) Do we envy other men who are making money more rapidly than we are, and count ourselves ill-used if we cannot keep pace with them?

(4) Do we look at every service we perform, at our extending knowledge of men, at every new piece of information that we gather, in the light of their monetary advantage?

(5) Is it our habit to measure the gains of the year simply by what we have made, and with no reference to what we are, to the money we have accumulated, rather than the good we have done?

It becomes us to ask ourselves such questions as these reverently, as in the sight of God, and thoughtfully for our own highest interests, for they will reveal to us almost certainly whether the slow poison of an absorbing love of money may not he stealing through our heart, robbing it of its noblest attributes. It is a terrible thing for us to love gold for its own sake, rather than for the use that we may make of it, because the heart is liable to become like that which it loves. Not only is the heart buried in the place where the treasure is, but the heart becomes like the treasure. Ossification is a terrible physical disease, when the heart turns to a hard, bony substance; but it has a spiritual counterpart for those beneath whose love for gold the heart shrivels into something little better than metal.

The second reason, hoarding money diverts the pure intention of the soul.

It is not necessary for us to dwell at length on the second reason which our Lord adduces against treasuring our treasures, viz., that hoarding money diverts the pure intention of the soul and blinds all spiritual light. We all know that faith is only possible for the pure heart. The faculty of spiritual vision and receptivity depends upon the simplicity and integrity of our moral life. When, therefore, the heart is filled with thoughts of its earthly riches, it becomes gross and insensible to the spiritual and eternal realm. Things of God fade from the vision, the love of God declines from the heart, the soul is no longer single in its purpose, the eye becomes dim, the, spiritual force abated, moral paralysis sets in, and the whole body becomes full of darkness, under the cover of which evil things creep forth. Oh, do not let your spiritual eyes become dazzled by the glitter of this world's goods, lest you be unable, like Bunyan's man with the muck-rake, to see the angel who, with golden crown in hand, waits to bless you. Instead of crouching over the heap of transient treasure, rise to your full stature, and claim the crown that fadeth not away!

Third reason, hoarding money enslaves.

The third reason that our Lord adduces is that hoarding money finally enslaves. He says that "No man 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." He employs two significant words, the one, Mammon (an old Chaldaic word for the god of wealth); the other, to serve, the subjection of the slave to the caprice of an owner. Our Lord puts in juxtaposition the two masters, God the Beneficent Father, and Mammon the god of wealth, and says everyone must choose between them. Whichever you elect to serve will become the supreme dominating force in your life, giving you no option, save the obedience of a slave.

Notice then the peril of the Christian man who is falling under the sway of covetousness which the Apostle calls idolatry (Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5). At the end of the process, be it longer or shorter, he will renounce entirely the service of God, and become the slave of money-making. The slightest acquaintance with commercial circles will give evidence of the tyranny of Mammon, which compels its abject slaves to toil day and night, demands the sacrifice of love and health, of home enjoyments and natural pleasures, insists that every interest shall be subordinate to its all-consuming service, and at the end of life casts its votary, bankrupt and penniless, upon the shores of eternity. Drink itself, stripping men of everything worth living for, is not more to be dreaded.

What then is the alternative to this prohibited hoarding of money? Are we to give away promiscuously and to everyone that asks? I confess I have no faith in this indiscriminate giving which demoralizes him who gives and him who receives; which creates a plentiful harvest of loafers and ne'er-do-wells, to the detriment of the thrifty and industrious poor, and which satisfies the sentiment of pity by a lazy dole, when it ought to set itself to a radical amelioration of the suppliant beggar. It is comparatively fruitless to give a meal here and there, without endeavouring, by practical sympathy and helping hand, to assist families by putting them in the way of helping themselves. This i