Skip to content 9. Singleness of Heart - Part 1 Sep 7 · 27 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:10 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? Hallelujah. It is always a joy and a privilege for us to study God's word together. Today, we're going to be talking about singleness of heart, and I'm going0:22 to take you to a passage of scripture in Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 to 34. So in your small groups, please take time to read through this passage of scripture. But0:34 in this lesson, I'm gonna focus on certain key scriptures, and we are gonna meditate together. Chapter 6 is an interesting chapter because it speaks about sacred0:45 concerns and secular concerns. That's how bible scholars divide chapter 6. The first 18 verses speaks about the sacred concerns. It deals with0:57 it deals with giving. It deals with praying. It deals with fasting. And the 1 phrase that keeps repeating is, what you do in secret, the father sees in secret,1:09 and he rewards you publicly. That means don't do it for sure. Do it to truly win the approval of God. In other words, don't do it for the applause of men, but for the1:21 approval of God because those are sacred concerns. Then the Bible scholars say from verse 19 all the way to verse 34, it speaks about the secular concerns because the it talks about the1:33 aspirations of life. It talks about the anxieties of life. That's why 1 phrase that you find repeated over and over again is do not be anxious. Do not be anxious. In1:45 other words, these 2 things is how a Bible scholar looks at this chapter. But can I humbly say this? I take a different approach to this. Why? Because chapter 6,1:57 God doesn't divide the sacred and secular about our lives. He doesn't want us to see our life compartmentalized. We have to have a integrity of2:08 looking at life holistically. In other words, it's a whole life discipleship. What is whole life discipleship? It is like seeing all of life for all of life. In other2:20 words, giving to Jesus all of our life, every aspect of our life for the rest of our life. That's why there is no secular and sacred divide in the kingdom of God.2:32 Everything about your life is sacred. So when you talk about the first 18 verses, you're dealing with things how you how you are walking before God, your posture before God. What why2:44 are you doing the things that you're doing? Then in chapter 6 verses 19 to verse 34, he deals with the anxieties of life. He speaks about practical living.2:57 And I want to take time to examine this because this this whole chapter 6, it speaks about our allegiance to God, especially our allegiance to seeking his3:09 kingdom and his righteousness. And, therefore, we need to look at this and examine it in that in light of that. So look at this. In verse 19, this is what it says. Do not lay3:20 up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, where3:32 thieves do not break in and steal. Pause. It speaks about treasure. You can have treasure in 2 places. It's not both places, either or. In3:44 other words, you can store treasure in heaven or you can store treasure on earth. 1 is perishable. 1 is imperishable. 1 is precarious, and the other 1 is secure. That's what he's talking about. Then in verse3:56 21, he says, for where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be also. In other words, if you say, I don't have a heart for it, just put your treasure there. Your heart will automatically follow there.4:08 That's what he's saying. Then in verse 22, he goes on to say, the eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. And but if your eye4:20 is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? Listen carefully. He speaks about eye. And this time, there's a4:32 comparison between a good eye and a bad eye. What is a healthy eye? In fact, in KJV version, that word healthy is actually changed to single. In other words, your eye is4:43 focused on 1 thing, then your eye will produce life in your body. Your body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, in other words, if your4:55 eye sees too many things, that means you're not focused, you're not single-minded, you're distracted. He says your body will be full of darkness. And then he goes on to say, if then the light in you5:07 is darkness, how great is your darkness? So pay attention to this. So 1 speaks about treasure. The other 1 speaks about I, what you focus on. Then thirdly, he speaks about, in5:19 verse 24, no 1 can serve 2 masters for he will either hate the 1 and love the other, or he will be devoted to the 1 and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.5:31 Now listen carefully. He says, you cannot serve 2 masters. You choose 1, and you're devoted to 1. And and as a result, you hate5:43 the other. You're committed to 1, and you reject the other. You cannot serve 2 masters. Now I want you to follow this whole explanation. There is a single treasure,5:55 1 place where you can store your treasure. There is a single eye, 1 thing you need to be focused on. There's a single master. There's only 1 master you choose to show your allegiance6:07 to. All of that speaks about singleness of heart. That's why this passage is very important for us in discipleship because it speaks about the6:19 core thing about our discipleship. It speaks about our allegiance. And the reason why he explains this is because at the root issue is6:31 that we are not people who are committed to 1 thing. Like, for example, if I go to my wife and I say, honey, I love you, but I don't love you with my6:43 whole heart. I only love you 50 percent. The other 50 percent, I want to leave for other women in the world. Or I love you 99 percent,6:55 but that 1 percent, I'm gonna keep for someone else. Will my wife accept it? No. No women in earth will accept that because they want your love7:07 holy. You want it all. The same manner the Lord wants our allegiance to himself. He says, I want your whole heart. I want your full attention. I want your full love.7:19 So in this passage, he's speaking about allegiance, and that's what I want you to pay attention to. So what will unlock this passage? The key to unlock this passage is found in verse 227:31 and verse 23. That's the key. If you understand this 1 thing, you'll unlock the whole passage. What does verse 22 say? The verse 22 says, the eye is the lamp of the body. What is the7:43 eye? Let's define the terms here. What is eye? Eye means what I'm focusing on. If I'm what I'm focusing on will produce it's like the lamp of the body. What is body here? What is lamp? Lamp7:54 is light. And what is body? Body is life. It's a metaphor for life. He says, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. In other words, he says, if your eye is8:06 single-minded, focused, determined on 1 thing and 1 thing alone, your body, your life, your existence will be full of life and full of8:17 meaning and purpose. But if your life is if your eye is bad, in other words, you're distracted, you're you're caught up with too many things, you're8:29 focusing on too many things, or in this context of this passage, you're focusing on storing pressures in heaven and on earth, serving God and money, what would happen is8:40 your body will be full of darkness. Darkness meaning your life will be filled with chaos and confusion and purposelessness. As a result, your life8:53 will lead towards destruction. And then he goes on to say 1 thing that is so specific here, which I want you to pay attention to. He says, if the light in you is darkness, how great9:05 is your darkness? Now pause there and ask yourself this question. Do I understand this passage? This is the passage. If you understand these 2 verses, the entire passage will9:16 unlock itself. He's saying you need to focus on 1 thing. You need to be able to say, I single mindedly pursue something. And the moment you're single-minded in your treasure,9:29 single-minded in your master, singleness of vision about your life, your life will be filled with meaning and purpose and life. Key, isn't it? I9:41 wanna give you a principle. What we see affects the way we live. You know, in the in the year 19 70, there was a doctor by the name of doctor Bernard9:53 Matheson. In the seventies, he was a prominent doctor who did a lot of abortions. He did, in fact, more than 60000 abortions.10:05 And then 1 day, he records this in the medical journal. 1 day, because of the invention of the ultrasound, he was able to10:17 scan and see the fetus. And that moment he saw the life within the womb, he could no longer call it just a fetus. He10:28 could no longer just call it a cell. He now called it a baby, and he refused to do any more abortions. In other words, what changed his life?10:40 What changed the way he was doing operations is because he saw something. What you see will affect the way you live. That's why in this house, we always say10:52 this. If you see what God sees, you will do what God says. Many times we fail to see what God sees.11:04 Many times we can't see why he what he's seeing. That's why we fret. We worry. But the moment you see as God sees, you will do what God says. So in this passage, the Lord is11:15 actually saying, train yourself to see 1 thing. Don't get distracted. Train yourself. Because if you train yourself to see 1 thing, then that 1 thing will produce life.11:29 And that is the key. But then he finishes that whole text by giving you a warning. Look at that in verse 23 towards the end. He says, if then the light in you is darkness,11:40 how great is your darkness? Pause and ask yourself, what does this mean? He says, if the light in you is darkness in other words, you walk around saying, I11:52 have the light. I have the light. But then the light in you is actually darkness. Then how great is your darkness?12:05 Now when I think about darkness in the bible, there are, of course, there are other than the physical darkness that happens at nighttime. There are 3 other kinds of darkness. The first kind of12:16 darkness is the darkness of sin. Sin produces a darkness. And when sin produces a darkness, people live away from the light, the12:28 enlightenment that comes from God, revelation that comes from God. So sin produces a kind of darkness. Secondly, there's a darkness that comes as a result of ignorance. My12:40 people perish for lack of knowledge. For people perish for lack of understanding. In other words, there's an ignorance. As a result, we walk in12:51 blindness. There's a darkness. The third kind of darkness is a darkness that comes as a result of deception. In other words, we are deceived into thinking that we have the light when we really don't have13:03 the light. I want you to listen to me carefully. That's the most dangerous kind of darkness. Because you think you have light,13:15 but what you actually have is darkness, then how great is your darkness? Can you see the magnitude of it? In other words, you walk around thinking, I my life is13:27 filled with God's perspective, God's holiness, God's life, and I have the I'm doing the will of God, and you are just mouthing these things without actually experiencing life. You may say I'm13:39 a Christian because I'm a worship leader in church, but there's no reality of worship in your life. You could say I'm a preacher of God's word. I travel around the world, and I proclaim the truth. And13:51 yet you don't live the truth. I want you to listen to me. If the light in you that you proclaim that you carry, that you say you you14:03 profess to have but you don't really possess, what would happen is you'll be deceived, and the darkness that comes as a result will be destructive.14:14 That's what God was saying here. Jesus is saying, if the eye is healthy, then the whole body will be full of light. But if the eye is full of darkness, if the eye is bad, then the whole body14:26 will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is your darkness? Wow. That's why you and I, we need to pay attention to this. Now take that key. It is14:38 about focusing on 1 thing. It is about focusing on being single-minded. And why is this so important? Why is Jesus addressing this in this particular passage? I tell you why.14:51 Because Jesus is addressing the root issue in human heart. What is the root issue in our heart? Our heart was designed to love 1 thing and15:03 1 thing holistically. My heart is designed to love my wife and say no to all other women. Love her wholeheartedly. Give myself completely to her.15:14 All of it. And that's how we are designed. But you know what? The corruption in our soul leads to duplicity of life. In other words,15:26 we have 2 loves in a single heart. When God is calling us to live with a singleness of heart, singleness of love in a single heart, what15:38 we carry is a duality of love, a duplicity of life, and therefore, we have a divided life, divided heart. And as a result, our lives are fragmented.15:50 That is the danger we have. And so why do we walk in deception? We walk in deception because we have 2 loves in 1 heart. I love this quotation from16:02 Thomas Kempis. Your beloved is such that he will not accept what belongs to another. He wants your heart for himself alone to be enthroned16:14 therein as king in his own right. If you but knew how to free yourself entirely from all creatures, Jesus would gladly dwell within16:25 you. By 2 wings is man lifted above earthly things, even by simplicity and purity. Simplicity ought to be in the16:36 intention and purity in the affection. I love the writings of the Puritans. And you know how he he captures the whole essence of16:48 what it means to have a singleness of heart. This is what it means, that you have 1 love, 1 pursuit, 1 persuasion, 1 purpose, 1 priority in16:59 life, 1 preoccupation in life. And it is to love Jesus wholeheartedly, to give myself wholeheartedly to him. Hallelujah. That is17:11 discipleship church, and that's what Jesus is inviting us to. But in the context, Jesus is highlighting this human condition. The human condition17:23 is the temptation to have 2 loves in 1 heart. That's why in this passage, there are 3 kinds of people Jesus is talking about. In fact, I want you to listen to me carefully. There are 3 groups of17:35 people in any church. There are 3 kinds of Christians in the kingdom of God. Who are they? 1 will be the worldly minded people. In other words, they are the carnal Christians, Worldly17:46 minded. They have no heart for God. They have no love for the things of God. They're not they don't search, and they don't seek after the deep things of the spirit. They have no desire. That's the first17:58 group, the worldly minded, carnally minded people. The second group are the double minded people. They want God, and they also want the world. They want to serve18:10 God, and they also want to serve the money, mammon. They wanna store treasure in heaven. They wanna store treasure on earth. It's the double minded people.18:22 And thirdly, he calls the single-minded people. Like apostle Paul, I have crucified myself. It's no longer I who live. I live for him, the 1 who loved me and called me18:34 and gave me himself. I give myself to him. I make it my aim to please my master. That's the cry of the apostle. He says, I wanna live a holistic, single-minded,18:46 single life. Hallelujah. So there are people who are worldly minded. They have no desire for God. There are people who are single single-minded, who are pursuing God18:57 wholeheartedly, passionately, completely, totally in their life, but there are also people who are double minded. They have 1 foot in the kingdom and19:09 1 foot in the world, and they think it is okay to live like that. I have treasure both on earth and in heaven. I have I'm serving God, and I serve19:21 mammon. Can I humbly say this? You and I cannot live in that duplicity of life. Why? That's the call that Jesus gives to us. If19:33 you don't, even in the book of Revelation, right, there's a passage of scripture that speaks, I would rather you hot or cold, but not lukewarm. If you're cold, I will accept you19:44 because you will face the judgment of God. But if you're hot, you will receive the reward of God. But if you're lukewarm, you're neither hot nor cold, Jesus says, I will vomit you out. In19:56 other words, he he he definitely abhors those who are double minded. That's why the call to discipleship is a call to single mindedness. The call to20:07 discipleship is to have a singleness of heart, a love in 1 heart, 1 love, 1 pursuit, 1 preoccupation, 1 purpose driven by 1 passion,20:20 1 thing that prioritizes your life. That is why he's saying, come back to me. So in this passage from verse chapter 6 verse 19 all the way to verse20:32 24, we talked about 3 things, single treasure, single master, single eye. But can you see the whole picture unlock that 1 word20:43 single will unlock everything in this passage? You go with me to Matthew chapter 6 and verse 31 onwards. Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat? What shall20:55 we drink? What shall we wear? See, these are the anxieties of life. You wanna know you are a true disciple of Christ? Discipleship has an acid test. You know what is the acid test?21:07 It's found in the scripture. The acid test is where do you store your treasures? Is it on earth or in heaven? That's an acid test. Where's your treasure? That's where your heart will be. So you wanna21:19 know where your heart is? That's where your treasure is. You wanna know where your heart is? That's where your treasure is. In other words, where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be. So that's an acid test.21:28 Where do you strive to store treasure? Who is the master that you're choosing to serve? That's an acid test. What keeps you awake at21:40 night? What are you agonizing about? What are you crying about? What are you so anxious about? These things reveal not only the condition of your heart, but it also reveals21:52 the state of your discipleship, whether you have single heart or whether you have divided heart. Look at what the passage says. For the22:04 Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all. Twice that 1 word is repeated. The Gentiles seek after all these22:15 things. What are all? You can write a whole list of things. I want I want to live in a better suburb. I want to send my kids to a better school.22:28 I wanna have a better salary packet. I want to be able to drive in a better car. I want to have better holidays. I want22:40 to have a better bank balance. I want to have a better retirement plan. I wanna better my life in all these things. The Gentiles seek after22:51 all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all. He's talking about the daily necessities of life, simple23:03 things, what you're gonna eat, where you're gonna live, and what you're gonna wear. And he says these are the things that grips the human heart, the anxieties. These are the things that you are anxious about. And he23:14 says, the Gentiles seek after all these things, but your heavenly father knows that you need them all. But you as a disciple, verse 33, says, but seek first the23:26 kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all that's the third time that 1 word is repeated. All these things shall be added to you. Hallelujah. He says, if23:38 you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things that the Gentiles seek after, which your heavenly father knows that you need them,23:51 will be coming after you. Hallelujah. You know, 1 of the things I purposed in my heart a very long time ago is this. I would not go after money.24:03 God would send it my way. I'll not go after these things. He would send it right. This is what the psalmist said, isn't it? Psalm 23, and the last verse says like this, surely goodness24:14 and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I would dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Listen to me carefully. We don't24:26 go after these things that the Gentiles are running after. Those things will come after us. You know why? We have the heavenly father who provides us at the right24:38 time in the right manner for the glory of God and for the good of our lives, he will do it. That's why theology undergirds. Theology24:50 should undergird our life and our thinking. And, therefore, when you're truly standing in the theology of who God is and you build your life on the solid word of God,25:02 you will not have anxiety in your heart. Why? Because he is able to take care of me. So what is my life about? My life is not about accumulating here on earth. My life is not about25:14 bettering my life on earth. My life is about pursuing Christ, his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to me. Hallelujah. What25:25 a powerful way to live life. An anxiety, worry free, favor filled life. I want you to listen to me carefully. Jesus, this passage, is25:37 helping them to see there's only 1 thing your life should be characterized by, single treasure, single master, single eye. Now he says singleness of25:50 purpose. You know, when you read this word, seek first, many times we make the mistake of saying, seek first the kingdom of God and his26:02 righteousness means to put God first in our lives. You would have heard this popular thing that many people say. You gotta put God first in your26:13 life. God should be number 1. Then it's your wife, number 2. Then it's your children, number 3. Then it's your church, number 4.26:25 Then it's your career, number 5. Is that how God wants you to live? I can assure you 1 thing. Based on the scriptures, God is not trying to compete26:37 for your allegiance and for your love, and he's not competing, and he's not asking you to put him number 1. And then number 2 can be anything. Number 3 can be anything.26:50 In fact, if you understand theology, this is what it is. Your heart was designed to love God whole wholeheartedly. In other words, your lich should not have anything else, only 1 thing,27:02 God.
Paul Jeyachandran
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