The Giant of Retreat: Part 6 by Dr. Rod Mattoon

About this sermon

In PART SIX of this message about battling the Giant of Retreat, we take on another reason why Christians spiritually retreat. It is striving to serve two masters. * Matthew 6:24- 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. As we dig into this issue, we begin with a true story about the life of John Paton, a missionary whose master was the Lord Jesus Christ. He served the Lord no matter what the cost. Paton's life shouted this truth: * You cannot serve Christ and safety. * You cannot serve Christ and public opinion. * You cannot serve Christ and self-preservation. * You must choose your Master before the crisis arrives. One of the great weapons that Satan uses to get Christians to spiritually retreat is the issue of serving two masters. Christians have been duped into thinking they can live like the world and serve Jesus at the same time. Honk! Wrong! That is impossible because they are totally opposite in lifestyles and reasoning. God made that clear. Serving two masters creates a wobbly life of instability. If you are wishy-washy and apathetic in your attitude about the things of God, if you have a ho-hum attitude about being faithful to church, to Christ, to worship, and to Bible reading and living, it is because your master is not Jesus right now. Other matters are more important to you. * James 1:8—A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Solomon started out well for the Lord at the beginning of his reign, but as the years passed, he became involved and married ungodly women. Their influence led to a spiritual retreat in his life. * 1 Kings 11:4—For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. Solomon’s heart was not perfect with God. We take a good look at this word “perfect” in the Hebrew language and the great treasures that are found in this word and its applications for us. A heart that is "Not Perfect" provides some things for us to ponder. We look at a number of lessons and applications about this matter. This message was preached on Sunday morning December 7, 2025, at Lincoln Land Baptist Church.