6:24Matthew 6:24

No one can serve two masters at the same time, for devotion to one means loving and holding to that one while hating and despising the other, so serving God demands wholehearted and undivided allegiance.GW92 442.1–2+2 Mammon means wealth and material interests treated as a rival god, including riches, money, earthly treasure and love of money, which is covetousness and idolatry that crowds out love for God.Lt 175, 1896, par. 19–23+2 There is no neutral middle ground, for attempting to hold to both sides fails and leaves a person at last on the enemy's side.Ms 87, 1897, par. 6+2 Serving God must be complete and renewed daily, with will, intellect, possessions and every ability consecrated to Him and brought into every part of life including business.Ms 24, 1895, par. 15+4 Serving mammon includes serving self, selfish interests, love of pleasure, and the esteem, honor and profit the world offers, and choosing these over Christ leaves a person with no part in Him.2T 442.1+2

No one can give service to two masters at the same time, for devotion to one means loving and holding to that one while hating and despising the other, so service to God requires wholehearted undivided allegiance.GW92 442.1–2+4 A person cannot be devoted to God and wealth at the same time, cannot give faithful service to both God and mammon, and cannot give loyal service to both God and wealth, for allegiance to one displaces the other.GW92 442.1–2+4 Those whose purpose is to honor God will reflect Christ's character, obey duty to Him, and leave results to Him rather than seeking human approval or giving up when slighted.GW92 442.1–2 The loyalties and character formed in this life determine fitness for eternal life, and no one can safely give allegiance to both God and mammon.FE 502.1 Love for earthly riches is incompatible with love for Jesus and commitment to heavenly treasure, and those who cling to worldly possessions cannot truly love the heavenly treasure.1T 349.1–2

Mammon means wealth and material interests treated as a rival god, including riches, property, money, earthly treasure, temporal interests, gain, and love of money.Lt 175, 1896, par. 19–23+4 Mammon represents temporal interests and the world's claims, which can enslave people to constant activity in service of its will, and riches, property, and earthly treasure of any kind substituted for the Lord.Ms 60, 1897, par. 18–19+1 Those who truly trust and serve God are not attracted by the world, but those who put gain where godliness should be offer their own souls as bound victims to wealth and will reap separation from God and heaven.Lt 55, 1900, par. 13 Covetousness is idolatry, so love of money conflicts with keeping God's law, and the heart's affections belong on heavenly things because where treasure is there the heart will be also.TCBMP 170.2 A person cannot serve God while making money the ruling object of life, and when money is treated as a god devotion to it outweighs service to God and leads people to withhold time and means that could help save others.ST Jun 25, 1894 People may profess to seek heaven's treasure while making acquisition of earthly wealth their chief concern, but choices reveal which master is served, and light once given can become darkness when not cherished, as the rich young man showed when he chose to keep possessions rather than give them up and follow Jesus to receive eternal life.1T 350.1–2

The verse belongs to the Sermon on the Mount, in which Christ corrected worldly ideas of greatness and taught the principles and conditions of entrance into God's kingdom.DA 299.3+4 That sermon opposed the self-righteous teachings of the scribes and Pharisees and corrected their false picture of God by revealing His compassion, mercy, love, and fatherly care.FE 309.1 Its lessons are to be shown in daily life, and living those teachings can make a deeper and more lasting impression than preaching alone.6T 472.1 It taught far-reaching principles in which the heart's allegiance shapes the life, and serving God cannot be joined with serving wealth.Lt 7, 1886, par. 34 It was spoken to show that failing to walk in the light God gives separates people from God, and darkness comes upon them in the same proportion as light has shone upon their pathway, requiring walking in the light by perfect obedience to God's commandments, which is reasonable and just and is all God will accept.ST Mar 26, 1896

It stands with teaching not to lay up perishable treasure on earth where moth and rust corrupt and thieves steal but to lay up enduring treasure in heaven, for where treasure is the heart will be also.Ms 139, 1897, par. 3–5+4 Earthly riches are insecure and pass away while treasure placed in heaven endures, entrusted means are to be used as God's almoner to sustain His work and help others receive truth, and hoarding wealth for self puts heart and service on the earthly side while giving for God's cause lays up lasting treasure in heaven.Lt 70, 1893, par. 29–33 It warns against investing in perishable riches and calls people to direct hearts and resources toward lasting treasure in heaven, with the heart fixed on heavenly treasure rather than earthly gain.Lt 264, 1903, par. 29–32+1 Treasure must not be stored on earth but laid up in heaven beside the throne of God safe from moth, rust, and thieves, calling for strict economy in spending so as to have means to bring to the Lord in thanksgiving, and such giving is itself laying up heavenly treasure.Lt 301, 1904, par. 13–15 It stands with teaching that a single eye fills the body with light while an evil eye leaves it full of darkness, requiring withdrawing affection from earthly treasure and fixing it on heavenly things, requiring Bible religion to be supreme and purity and steadfastness of purpose to receive light, with a single purpose filling life with light while a divided purpose fills it with darkness, and keeping the eye single so life is full of light in undivided service to God.Ms 139, 1897, par. 3–5+3

It is set in teaching that forbids anxious concern about life, food, drink and clothing and commands trust in the heavenly Father who knows human needs.2T 496.2+4 Life is more than material provision and more than meat, and the body is more than clothing and raiment, and God's care of birds and flowers shows His care for people.Lt 175, 1896, par. 19–23+1 The heavenly Father feeds the fowls of the air though they sow not, reap not, nor gather into barns, and people are much better than they, and taking thought cannot add one cubit to stature.Ms 139, 1897, par. 3–5 God clothes the lilies of the field and the grass without their toiling or spinning more gloriously than Solomon in all his glory though it today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, and the heavenly Father knows need of food, drink, and clothing which the Gentiles seek after.Ms 139, 1897, par. 3–5 It commands seeking first God's kingdom and righteousness with needed things added, and the life and clothing that matter most are inward Christlike meekness and righteousness which make a person precious to God and prepare for immortality.2T 496.2+2 Christ's answer to claims of human science sets this choice beside trust in God for life's needs and the priority of seeking God's kingdom and righteousness, calling dependent beings who owe every breath to God to trust Him for temporal needs and redemption and to know and do His requirements.Ms 45, 1898, par. 11–12 Trust in God frees people to do their work with an undivided aim for His glory and is not idleness, for God works through those who have means to provide for the hardship of others.Lt 175, 1896, par. 19–23

The passage from Matthew 6:19-29 exposes present dangers and unbelief and calls for a deep living experience with God in which each person knows truth for himself and walks by faith rather than storing earthly treasure.Ms 61b, 1895, par. 16–19+1 The teaching about laying up heavenly treasure because the heart follows treasure is for parents as teachers in God's place to act out His mind and will in every particular.Ms 187, 1898, par. 51–54 Parents are to bring children up without scolding, fretting, harshness or angry punishment and in habits of strict temperance.Ms 187, 1898, par. 51–54 This is illustrated by God's instruction through His angel to Manoah's wife and Manoah about abstaining from wine, strong drink and unclean food and observing all commanded before the birth of the son who would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.Ms 187, 1898, par. 51–54

Spoken by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, the verse shows the Lord requires the undivided affections of all entering the new life, a truth to be understood before baptism.6MR 155.2–156.1 Christ will not accept a divided heart, and no one can divide service between God and mammon.6MR 155.2–156.1 Entrance requires thorough conversion shown by practicing truth and doing the Father's will with transformed character, not merely saying I believe, with the life witnessing to the change wrought by transformation of character.6MR 155.2–156.1 Bearing fruit testifies which master is served and makes plain the line between those loving God and keeping His commandments and those not, as genuine love for Christ who gave Himself wholly as a whole sacrifice to redeem the whole person soul, body, and spirit works by faith purifying the soul to do His will and not one's own.6MR 155.2–156.1

The verse requires undivided allegiance to God, and the loyalty and character formed in this life determine fitness for eternal life, with each person working out his own destiny.FE 502.1+1 Even one with wonderful wisdom was drawn away by the world, proving the need to guard the soul lest cares and attractions absorb time belonging to eternal things, while God is able to keep His people in the world but not of the world and watches with steady, measureless, everlasting care.ST Nov 26, 1896

A divided purpose with outward profession appearing right but perverted conscience, misdirected faculties, distorted faith and rebellious conduct is unstable, untrustworthy and deceptive.13MR 154.3–155.3+3 Fair words smoother than oil can cover a wicked heart yielding elsewhere, with profession of righteousness while cherishing sin and practicing deception, and such a life can mislead others.Lt 128, 1897, par. 9–10+2 Outward religious activity including attendance, testimony and some missionary work is only outward form if the heart remains divided and unfit for the Spirit's work.Lt 36, 1888, par. 4 Serving God requires a single undivided purpose with the whole being consecrated and shown visibly in speech, dress and conduct, for profession alone is worthless if Christ does not abide in the heart.13MR 154.3–155.3+1

There is no neutral ground, especially in crisis; trying to hold to both sides or settle in the middle between spirituality and worldliness fails.Ms 87, 1897, par. 6+2 Those who begin half and half will at last be found on the enemy's side regardless of intentions.Ms 87, 1897, par. 6 Neutrality toward Christ is not service to God, for one who does not give himself wholly to God is controlled by another power and becomes an ally through whom the enemy works against Christ's followers. The first selfish act opens the mind for satanic agencies to enter and gain control, so safety is only in active service with talents as consecrated offerings, every influence being either decidedly good and bound to God or decidedly bad and bound to the world.16MR 10.3–11.3 Those saying Good Lord and good devil attempt the impossible, for good and evil are in constant conflict with no middle ground, requiring full work on Christ's side with every power, snatching prey from seductive influences in high places or low and keeping Christ's property from passing into control of children of darkness.STB 44.1–2+1

Serving God and mammon together is impossible and a divided life cannot stand.Ms 75a, 1897, par. 8–9+2 Those flattering themselves they can do more good by holding to both are deluded by Satan's sophistry and power over the divided heart.Ms 75a, 1897, par. 8–9 The sacred and the common cannot mingle, with no mingling of common fire, no half-and-half work, and fitness for heaven and companionship with the holy requires preparation of heart and character here in undivided loyalty as His property by creation and redemption.Ms 75a, 1897, par. 8–9+1 Full consecration lets the Holy Spirit work from inward to outward, for cherishing common fire obscures spiritual eyesight until sacred and common cannot be discerned, while true conversion is entire turning leaving no indecision and uniting to God and one another in love.RH Feb 19, 1901+2

Their interests have no union or sympathy and are in direct conflict with vast separation, though the world and Christ may appear alike outwardly.ST Oct 29, 1894+1 Christ says a person cannot serve two masters, not merely that he will not or should not.ST Mar 17, 1909 Following Christ calls for conscience-led restraint and self-denial, while love of the world leads to indulging selfish desires, fashion, frivolity and forbidden pleasure, and a Christian cannot cross into that way of life and remain faithful.ST Mar 17, 1909

Serving God and serving Satan or Baal are opposing allegiances that cannot both be served, as shown by the contrast of light and darkness and by Elijah's appeal to serve the Lord if He is God or Baal if Baal is.5T 199.1+1 Apparent benefits such as prolonged life or temporal gain do not make disobedience wise or safe but bring irrecoverable loss in the end.ST Mar 24, 1887

Serving God and serving earthly wealth as rival master cannot be combined; it calls for wholehearted service with nothing allowed between a person and God or the soul's eternal interests.ST Jul 3, 1893+2 Heavenly things must command heart and life, with minds set on heavenly things shaping conversation and life in growing grace and knowledge of truth and foretaste of joy by faith.ST Oct 17, 1911 Those fixed on heaven's treasure refuse to turn toward earthly rewards, while attention drawn to earthly things stains and darkens.SG4 264.2–265.2

Divided service spoils a person for both, making neither a faithful Christian nor a successful person of the world.Lt 66, 1899, par. 5+1 The safe course is to serve God and follow what is known to be right regardless of inclination or consequences.Lt 66, 1899, par. 5+1 This means not subordinating future eternal interests to ordinary affairs of this life but waking up to give God loyalty, with simple habits, prayer, and rejection of Satan's fictions.Lt 254, 1903, par. 12+2

Service to God and devotion to wealth or self-interest cannot govern a life at the same time; a person must give the whole heart and will either to God or to the world.RH Oct 20, 1910+1 Employing brain and nerve and muscle for self keeps God from being first and makes it impossible to weave Christ's graces into character, and God accepts no half-hearted service.RH Sep 1, 1910 Outward worship while energies serve worldly aims is an abomination, and heaping treasure for self-glory pushes eternal considerations second.RH Oct 20, 1910+1 Wholehearted loyalty lets the Holy Spirit abide with peace and transforming grace fitting for glory.RH Sep 1, 1910

Loyalty to God and loyalty to worldly gain exclude each other, with a fixed gulf between the faithful servant and the worldly person differing in thought, sympathy and feeling about God, truth and eternity and with no unity of purpose and action.RH Apr 6, 1916+1 Those making God's law the rule cannot enter binding vows and confident brotherhood with people having no connection with God, not led by the Spirit and despising His authority, turning truth into falsehood.RH Apr 6, 1916

Allegiance is either wholly on the Lord's side or on the enemy's side; wavering and repeatedly stopping short of surrendering all makes religious life fail.2T 262.4 When clear duty is neglected conscience hardens, becomes less responsive to the Spirit's warnings, disregarded light becomes darkness and the Spirit is nearly grieved away.2T 262.4

Trying to serve both brings unrest, trouble and no rest, because undivided loyalty cannot be given to two masters.RH Aug 24, 1916+1 Serving God is easy when the whole being is consecrated with His glory as aim, heart inclinations controlled by His Spirit to fight the good fight of faith, and daily obedience asking what the Lord commands.RH Aug 24, 1916 A choice must be made about whom to serve.Lt 116, 1894, par. 3

Trying to serve two explains failure to walk uprightly.ST Aug 6, 1885 When a person gives himself to Jesus, Christ takes possession bringing wrong desires, false ambitions and evil purposes under God's will, which is sanctification.ST Aug 6, 1885 Trying to serve both leaves the mind uncertain, makes self-effort vain, lets worldly policy and schemes become supreme because the Word becomes uncongenial when the heart resists the Holy Spirit's molding and natural impulses are chosen to control.ST Aug 6, 1885+1

Every person serves one of two masters, Christ the Prince of light or Satan the prince of darkness, despite professing many rulers.ST Nov 3, 1881+1 Samuel and Eli's sons represent these opposing parties since Adam's fall, service is seen in character and effects, and the principle applies to individuals, families and nations where virtue brings happiness, unity, peace and prosperity while greed and irreligion bring woe and decline.ST Nov 3, 1881+1

Trying to serve both self and Christ produces divided, feeble, changeable service unable to endure testing like the stony-ground hearer.ST Dec 20, 1905+1 Denying self means dedicating wholly to God without seeking personal glory.STMW7 46.1–2 Belonging to Christ requires being His wholly with laboring, sacrificing love longing for souls, loving to live for Him, presenting thank-offerings, coveting pain and toil and sacrifice, and sympathizing with His craving for salvation; anything short is deception, and no mere theory or profession will save.COL 49.3–50.1

Serving God and serving mammon are opposing choices that cannot both receive faithful service, and the choice must be made now while mercy is offered.RH Aug 22, 1907+1 Refusing present invitations and persisting in disobedience leaves no later probation or appeal when mercy no longer pleads.RH Aug 22, 1907+1 Satan's false assurances of peace and safety in the closing time can blind people to the final call, showing the need to humble oneself and prepare before too late.Lt 61, 1906, par. 7

The choice of master is voluntary and its full results rest on the one who makes it.13MR 218.2–219.1 Choosing and upholding God's principles makes them part of life shaping the person in God's likeness as a spring of everlasting life.13MR 218.2–219.1 One must be wholly on the Lord's side with thoughts, affections, energies and actions devoted to Him.Lt 17, 1868, par. 5–9

Divided loyalty is impossible, and every person is either a Christian or a sinner in word, action, spirit, home, business and church.Ms 106, 1902, par. 15–18 Professing to serve the Lord while denying Him in works scatters from Christ, confuses believers, leads some to call evil good, exerts more harmful influence than open sin, and Christ's righteousness covers no soul so polluted.Ms 106, 1902, par. 15–18

A person cannot keep one part of the heart for God and another for mammon and attempting to do so will not pay, for God requires the whole heart.18MR 160.3 Those long professing truth must examine what ground they occupy and whether service is wholehearted.18MR 160.3 A few righteous acts or good impulses do not make one wholly righteous, for the whole being must be given or the offering is not received.Lt 14, 1884, par. 20

A half-hearted life brings doubt and darkness and enjoys neither the consolations of religion nor the pleasures the world offers; giving everything up for Christ and following Him wholeheartedly is the blessed and safe course.ST Feb 19, 1880 Service to God cannot be divided with no neutrality or standing on both sides, especially for those entrusted with sacred responsibilities who must stand firmly against evil rather than support both truth and error.Lt 80, 1896, par. 19–21

No evil influence or natural or acquired tendency should lead anyone to put ordinary affairs ahead of future eternal interests.Ms 156, 1903, par. 10 Minds capable of immortality through faith must not be engrossed with the present as worshipers of mammon, heaven must not be made second, and those enlisted under Christ must be faithful soldiers not exhausting all energy on temporal necessities, for Christ is the bread from heaven and claims of eternal life must never be made subordinate.Lt 30, 1893, par. 21

Loyalty favoring one master over the other is required; Christ's words are truth and rejecting them dishonors Him, as shown by disciples who took offense and left.Ms 67, 1897, par. 48–49 Physical, mental and moral powers belong to God and are to be cultivated in His service.Ms 67, 1897, par. 48–49 Loyalty to one entails rejecting the other; serving God means not becoming absorbed in worldly business or spending on unnecessary wants, but using means to support God's work and help people in need.RH Feb 23, 1905

Loyalty to God and devotion to mammon meaning worldly interests and ambitions cannot be combined; a person ruled by the world's thoughts, principles and actions cannot honor God because the world's aims run opposite to God's and can crowd Christ and heaven out of mind and affections.ST Dec 1, 1887 Serving God and serving mammon are opposing loyalties so a person cannot give heart to both; anything drawing affections from God becomes an idol leading to sin.ST May 19, 1881 It calls for willing joyful choice of God's service over sin, Satan and worldly attractions, and those choosing Him receive blessing in this life and dwell in His presence forever.ST May 19, 1881

Serving God does not require leaving business life but requires bringing religion into every part of it, making all securing of earthly things secondary, showing a sacred connection with heaven in business, using entrusted means to win souls, shedding light, keeping life pure and upright, bringing Christ's nobility into all that is done, living untainted in preparation for fellowship with angels, with mind, reason and intelligence yielded to God rather than devoted chiefly to profit, and where thoughts are centered determining whether a person becomes worldly or ready for fellowship with angels.Ms 24, 1895, par. 15+3 Compromise with the world despises Christ's humble, self-denying, self-sacrificing principles and His law, while serving God means following Christ's example, living by His principles in obedience to God's law, and devoting entrusted powers to making God and Christ known.Lt 84, 1895, par. 16+1 Trying to serve God while acting by personal wishes and convenience or while ruled by worldly ambition chooses one's own way rather than submitting to Christ, puts the soul at risk, leads to continued mistakes and failures, and requires living by truth rather than darkness with complete surrender to redeem the past.Lt 59, 1892, par. 4–7+3

Service to God must be wholehearted, complete at the start and renewed daily, with will, intellect and possessions consecrated to Christ, affecting present happiness, future well-being and eternal life, making Him and His righteousness the first and only business with undivided affection and faithful obedience.Ms 20, 1894, par. 2–5+3 Christ accepts no divided service but asks for all with nothing withheld, for having purchased people at infinite price all they have is to be yielded willingly.4T 214.1 Every gift comes from God and must be recognized as from Him, gratitude fills the heart and surrounds the soul with a heavenly atmosphere, and life must be ordered by God's truth through diligent study of Scripture as not a make-believe story but truth of the living God, foundation of faith and assurance of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.STB 823.2–3 Those whose purpose is to honor God will reflect Christ's character, obey duty to Him and leave results to Him rather than seeking human approval or giving up when slighted.GW92 442.1–2

The inward life and clothing that matter most are Christlike meekness and righteousness, which make a person precious to God and prepare for immortality, while money or possessions do not make one precious but moral worth is what He estimates, with trust in God rather than anxious concern about food and clothing and seeking God's kingdom and righteousness first applying the choice.2T 496.2 Serving God does not allow keeping the world's pleasures in view but requires choosing Christ's promise of eternal riches in the kingdom over desirable earthly riches and His promise of immortal life to obedient believers over desire to prolong this life, for those who suffer with Him will be crowned with glory and honor and given abundant entrance into the city to live forever with the redeemed.Ms 10, 1885, par. 12 Christians still feel sin's promptings but must wage constant war against them, rely on Christ's help joining human weakness to divine strength, and completely give up self and every evil work, for loyalty cannot serve the Lord only when convenient and serve Baal at other times, and indulging anger, lust, covetousness, hatred, selfishness or any other sin makes a person sin's servant.Lt 133, 1904, par. 14+1

Service to God must be marked by faith, by lifting up Christ through living faith, and by self-denial, rather than mixed with self-seeking or taint of mammon, because loyalty to one master means rejecting the other.Ms 73, 1902, par. 11+2 A true servant does not weigh obedience against personal or temporal advantage but obeys God's commandments at any cost even when it costs worldly profit, rather than choosing what is convenient or profitable, and that settled loyalty must be strengthened now to remain faithful when a decree demands worship of the beast's image and its mark.4T 251.1+2 God's claims require learning His grace in truth through union of soul with Christ in obedience and living by every word, which alone elevates, ennobles, refines character and keeps a person steadfast in evil times when Satan contends for the soul, while anything else is natural human folly.Lt 17, 1886, par. 2

Divided loyalty keeps a person at a low standard, and God requires wholehearted service that climbs round after round on a ladder with base on earth and top in heaven, following Christ who hid divinity under humanity, by diligently adding virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity to faith, which keeps one from being barren in the knowledge of Christ.Lt 66, 1899, par. 11–14 Serving God is incompatible with making wealth the ruling aim, and a heart consecrated to God will not sacrifice God-given powers on mammon's altar or be driven by haste to be rich, because abilities and affections belong to God and are to be held sacred, and God's will not personal pleasure must govern every soul bought by Christ.Lt 89, 1896, par. 5 Following Christ requires counting the cost now to be an obedient follower with undivided affections keeping eternal realities in view, making God and His righteousness the first and only business instead of professing Christianity while serving self and scarcely thinking of eternal things, with faithful single-hearted service receiving eternal treasures while divided self-serving loses all, proved by sensing responsibility to use probationary time fruitfully every day in good works with endless results in view.2MR 330.2–331.2

Serving God means relying on Christ as Savior and seeking to glorify God rather than people, and calls for separation from what is unclean.Lt 52, 1901, par. 16–19 Service belongs wholly to God, so anything not devoted to His service is placed on Satan's side, and serving Him involves giving heart and all abilities to His work including using means for salvation of others, while neglecting His law withholds due service and deprives one of grace and strength, living apart from Jesus opens to temptation, and faithfulness in small matters forms principles governing larger ones.Ms 139, 1898, par. 10+1 Christ must live and work in disciples and their wills be submitted to His will, and receiving the Holy Spirit means acting with Christ's Spirit rather than serving self alongside Him, transfusing His vital influence so it is no more they that live but Christ living in them in oneness with God; self cannot rule a life devoted to Christ, for when self is the mainspring Christ is dishonored and genuine character and obedience are absent.Lt 11b, 1892, par. 6–8+2

No one is a Christian while serving God a little while, then mammon, then the devil a while, but service must be steady and from principle learned in meekness and lowliness in Christ's school, making one blameless as God's child shining as a light and Christlike, while divided service with excitement, lack of self-control and perverse speech does not represent Christ.Lt 64, 1888, par. 6 The world's absorption in saving earthly things conflicts with serving God wholeheartedly, and the verse calls for choosing God over material concerns and living in dependence on Him, trusting the heavenly Father who provides for birds and clothes flowers rather than being consumed by worries over food, drink and clothing, which trust is not idleness for God works through those who have means to provide for hardship.Lt 31, 1888, par. 3–6+1 All talents and abilities belong to Christ as entrusted gifts to be used for Him as consecrated offerings in active service, and safety is only in such active service putting capabilities to best use.Ms 128a, 1903, par. 33–34

Those baptized must be true to their vow by giving undivided service and refusing division between God and earthly gain; baptism buries the old life of sin and raises to new life in which reason, affection, speech and property are held in trust from Christ for use in obedience to God's law, the choice is voluntary and decisive with each bearing full results, and maintaining God's principles molds character into the divine likeness as a living well springing to eternal life.Lt 73, 1901, par. 8–13 Service to God rules out self-seeking for financial advantage and compromises that dishonor faith or lower righteousness, and His servants must keep free from worldly policy and show self-denial and self-sacrifice.Lt 71, 1902, par. 17–18 Loyalty to God cannot be shared with devotion to earthly wealth; serving God requires decisive separation from sin and the world with no compromise or turning back to secure earthly treasures.PP 167.1

Talents belong to Christ and must be put to best use as consecrated offerings in active service to Him, and the verse forbids linking with worldly men and depending on worldly methods and the spirit of commerce while claiming to serve God, for neutrality toward Christ is not true service and every influence is either decidedly bound to God or to the world.Ms 128, 1903, par. 34+1 The verse is to be used to affirm clear loyalty to God and His Word in answer to those who try to confuse the mind, and near the close of time active obedience to God's law will set God's servants against those serving the prince of this world and bring opposition from evil people and angels.Ms 75, 1886, par. 34–35+1 Those who faithfully follow God cannot unite in confidence and shared purpose with people who reject His authority and truth, and seeking the world's schemes and methods is incompatible with service to God.Ms 102, 1903, par. 8+1 Service to God cannot be divided with service to idols, for God requires full cooperation and complete use of entrusted abilities, which requires His converting power in the heart.20MR 290.1

Serving mammon means giving oneself to earthly and selfish interests, to self and self-interest and love of pleasure, and to worldly interests and influences that draw the heart from God, including the esteem, honor, applause and profits the world offers, and choosing these over Christ leaves a person with no part in Him.2T 442.1+4
The other master also includes sin itself — anger, lust, covetousness, hatred, selfishness and every evil work — and serving Baal by serving the Lord only when convenient, and serving powers opposed to God and the prince of this world; whoever gives himself to obey sin becomes sin's servant and not Christ's, those controlled by passions serve the master of evil, and disciples must bring passions and faculties into subordination to Christ's will and wage constant war against sin's promptings by joining human weakness to divine strength.Lt 133, 1904, par. 14+4
The one obeyed is the one served, so professing to serve Christ while yielding in daily choices to sin and selfish worldly interests is obeying another master and working against Christ, engaging soul, mind and strength as mammon's servant while deceiving the soul; Christian profession without corresponding faith and works does not make one God's servant, and those yielding to the devil remain his servants until they renounce him and all his works, so taking part in pleasures belonging to Satan's servants is not harmless because called harmless.2T 442.1+3
Serving mammon entangles means in worldly possessions, lands, mines, real estate, earthly banks and speculations, taking money out of God's institutions and burying it where His cause is not benefited, fostering greed that begrudges every dollar called for His work and withdrawing support to speculate.Lt 41a, 1888, par. 23–25+2
Money is entrusted for a time to test whether it rules the heart, becoming a rival master when greed gives it greater power than God and His requirements; pursuing possessions can occupy the mind, make people forget God and bring eternal loss, for money and land cannot ransom the soul, gaining wealth at cost of the soul is terrible failure, and God's approval amid shattered hopes and the world's denunciation is better than worldly status if gaining it forfeits heaven, so it is better to live in poverty than endanger eternity.Ms 25, 1896, par. 8–10+4
Buying possessions must not be made the principal burden, for the world is a hard master and Satan's agent to captivate souls; covetous talk and eager pursuit of business enterprises harm spiritual life, influence and God's work, and love of treasure leads to self-indulgence and weakens self-denial and sending truth to others.Lt 41a, 1888, par. 23–25+3
Love of riches competes with godliness, hardens the heart, stifles generosity, makes people indifferent to suffering, paralyzes the soul with covetousness, and exposes the contradiction of professed followers eagerly pursuing riches.3T 547.1
Serving mammon puts worldly things ahead of God and leads people to disregard Christ's commands, which contributes to sin, misery and want; souls are snared when they sell themselves for gain, and those professing to serve God but actually serving mammon preserve only a form of piety, devote minds to temporal pursuits, disregard commands for personal advantage, and will face judgment on such divided service.ST Jul 2, 1894+2
Making money and selfish gain the controlling aim makes people forget duties to God and others, removes God's favor and deadens spiritual life; prosperity is entrusted by God not to draw time and attention away, for the giver is greater than the gift, and the desire to accumulate can occupy thoughts and efforts until God's claims and others' needs are forgotten.4T 82.1–2+1
Making eternal things subordinate so desire to accumulate overrules principle blinds a person to difference between sacred and common, and allowing the world's spirit and business to absorb mind and attention means failing to serve wholeheartedly, for mind, reason and intelligence are gifts not to be devoted chiefly to profit, and seeking God's kingdom and righteousness first is essential to knowing God and Christ.5T 280.2+1
Money tests who rules the soul, whether money has greater power than God; money becomes a snare through greed, possession lasts only a little while to try each person, and Satan enamors the mind toward extravagance, appetite, false surroundings and hurtful lusts that destroy sense of the soul's value, working as an angel of light as a friend even representing himself as Christ, so there is no safety unless souls are committed to God's keeping in faith, supplication and enlightenment at every step.16MR 257.2–4
Tobacco becomes a master when its appetite controls powers and enslaves, preventing wholehearted service, and spending God-given means on harmful habits instead of His service shows divided loyalty since God requires the whole person; likewise a cherished appetite like choosing a pipe over heaven can become an idol taking Christ's place despite claiming to belong wholly to Him.Ms 43a, 1894, par. 20–23+1
Serving mammon means loving wealth over God or holding to it while despising God; covetousness is therefore idolatry, love of money conflicts with keeping God's law, riches can deceive the heart so affections should be set on heavenly things, where treasure is stored the heart follows, and choosing unlawful gain over conscience and generosity sacrifices integrity and hope of heaven.PP 496.4–497.1+1
Serving mammon means giving money the loyalty and trust belonging to God; money entrusted by God can be used for good, but love of gain and selfish use turn it into an instrument of sin, Christians show whom they serve by whether they use means for self or generously to help the needy and advance God's work, and faithfulness with worldly possessions shows whether they can be trusted with eternal riches.Ms 26, 1891, par. 42–46
Devotion to acquiring and keeping wealth can make money a master and god that enslaves and turns the whole life toward gain, and breaking the attachment may feel like tearing out one's vitals but is necessary for valuing heaven above earthly treasure.2T 237.2
When money is trusted and esteemed as source of happiness apart from God it becomes a tyrant worshiped as god, its rule leads to sacrificing honor, truth, righteousness and justice and setting aside God's commands for worldly customs, and loving God supremely keeps temporal things in proper place.TEPD 67.1
A life governed by pursuit of earthly treasure cannot truly serve God, love for God rules out greed, and covetousness can take control and make a person serve wealth despite professing God as master.ST Nov 18, 1880
Worshiping wealth is idolatry even without graven images, and people loving gain may sacrifice conscience to get what they want, showing they do not love God or neighbors.2T 440.1
Those who love and cling to riches cannot love Jesus or possess heavenly treasure; profession of seeking heaven is not genuine when chief interest is acquiring earthly possessions, conduct shows belonging to the world, earthly treasure deceives and keeps people from recognizing they love money more than truth, and when given light is not cherished it becomes darkness.RH May 20, 1862+4
Those eagerly pursuing riches while reaching only weakly for heaven lose sight of reward and are left in darkness, while turning to seek the heavenly crown brings light, cheerfulness and holy joy.1T 348.1+2
Men with insane love for riches prove by works that no one can serve both; money becomes their god receiving homage, their honor which is birthright is sacrificed for gain, and this ruling power controls minds so they will violate God's law to increase treasure.3T 479.1
Those professing Christ while giving best strength to worldly pursuits bow to mammon; deceived by Satan and excited by prospects of gain and honor they become infatuated, accept his bribe of power and wealth with which to do good, lose living connection with the self-denying Redeemer, hold earthly treasures and despise required self-denial, having exchanged masters so mammon is god, the change made so imperceptibly that conformed to the world they do not perceive they have parted with Christ.3T 479.2–3+2
Satan makes the world attractive through riches and honor to win even professed Christians until they yield homage to his power and violate God's law while professing Christ, and the more they succeed in getting riches the less love they have for truth and its advancement, feeling poorer the more prospered because they still have no more, and investing less in God's cause.3T 478.3+1
Serving mammon places business and earthly concerns above God separating the heart from Him and His truth, and using God's gifts chiefly for worldly pursuits rather than to enlighten others shows this divided allegiance.4T 47.2
Serving self and money while using the Christian name as cover for wrongdoing chooses wealth over God, and worldly advantage can lead to trading integrity and loyalty to Christ for money; love of money can grow unchecked until outweighing love for Christ, making a person an idolater who may still use the Christian name while giving up integrity and betraying Christ.3SP 82.3+1
Riches gained through oppression, deception, fraud or other dishonest means are detestable to God, wealth or worldly honor cannot secure His favor, and God values people by moral worth and faith not wealth or status, as illustrated by Lazarus and the rich man.ST Mar 22, 1883+1
Refusing to place self on the Lord's side robs God of claimed service; using possessions as pleased as if creating the world is misuse of His talents, worship of money, houses and lands marks professors as idolaters and apostates even without literal bowing because treasure becomes god, all selfishness is covetousness and therefore idolatry, and many on the church roll claiming belief worship entrusted goods, offering to worldly things homage belonging to the Creator and denying God by works which He records.RH May 23, 1907
A person cannot give part of the heart to God while keeping a cherished sin for self, and even one indulged sin divides service and must be overcome rather than treated as trifling; disobedience to even the least requirement leaves connection with sin amounting to denying God and rebelling against His rule.MYP 91.1
No one can love this world and love God's truths at the same time, for affection given to wealth is taken from God; it condemns using God's gifts to weaken strength through self-indulgence, letting business cares crowd out enlightening minds, and seeking happiness in this life instead of letting Christ's religion rule the heart.ST Jan 27, 1876
Serving God and pursuing worldly wealth as governing aim are incompatible; pursuit of gain can make God secondary and lead to giving up His service, and even success, wealth and honor are not worth endangering eternal interests.ST Jun 26, 1893
Money, property and all entrusted goods belong to God and are held only in trust to be used wisely, spent in His service, devoted to building His kingdom and saving souls, and accounted for; if charmed by, valued above God's favor, allowed to come between a person and obedience, used for passion, pride and extravagance, or withheld from doing good, they become a master, snare and idol that ruins eternal interests and endangers the soul, while wealth must remain subordinate and be used for God's glory as one accountable to Him.3MR 113.2–4+4
What is not devoted to Him strengthens the opposing cause, and professing belief without literally bowing yet revealing by covetousness and use of entrusted goods that wealth is god shows false profession and hypocrisy and divided service.6T 447.2–448.1+2
A worldly Christian shuts God out to make room for worldly plans and makes money his god though it belongs to God, refusing to let it flow in benevolence and using it for self-glorification, which eclipses God's glory, obscures heaven, fills the world with evil and closes the mind against the Redeemer; serving God with money uses it to advance His kingdom, awaken the dead in sin and tell of healing love.RH May 23, 1907
Putting worldly prosperity, gains, possessions, ease and enjoyment first is serving mammon rather than Christ and making self an idol, leaving Christ's work and soul-saving waiting while devotion to money withholds time and means that could help save others.5T 204.3+1
Mammon, worldly reputation and honor, and selfish ease and freedom from responsibility are idols that bind people to Satan, and whatever draws the heart away, including worldly honor, must be given up and every weight and besetting sin laid aside, for God's children belong to Him entirely and cannot belong partly to God and partly to the world.SC 44.1+2
Money, business, possessions, fame, honor and lust become rival masters and idols when loved more than God, and cherishing a favorite sin gives temptation power over conscience and reason; allegiance to Christ requires putting cherished sins away, for no one can serve Christ while remaining loyal to His enemy.ST May 18, 1882
Serving mammon means giving worldly wealth the loyalty belonging to God and the Creator, so those misspending time serving wealth rather than God face God's wrath while those living for God and heaven and pointing others to life receive their Lord's joy.4T 53.3–54.1
Serving God while serving mammon is divided love that deceives believers pursuing riches into neglecting immortal treasure and entrusted talents, leaving them poorly prepared for the Master's return when He demands account of stewardship.4T 123.3–124.1
Devoting all powers of mind to money-getting is worshiping money as god, where love of getting becomes ruling passion strengthening continually with thoughts burdened on obtaining more, every dollar an extra chain fastening to this world, making the person mammon's slave as intoxicated as the inebriate, with garments spotted by corruption and under God's hanging rod whose judgments may send the unready to the grave.3T 544.2
When love of the world takes possession as ruling passion there is no room for adoration to God, for higher powers submit to slavery of mammon, lose remembrance of God and heaven, and are narrowed to accumulating money; selfishness lessens sense of the last-days work, property absorbs affections and eclipses salvation's magnitude, means are invested in temporal not eternal things, and increased cares leave no time to bless others, converse, pray with neighbors or bring them to truth.3T 385.1–2
Professing Christians who give themselves to selfish appetite and extravagant spending for personal pleasure are slaves of mammon, which dishonors God and makes the distinction between Christ's people and the world indistinct.8T 118.4–119.1+1
Making riches the whole aim of life is incompatible with serving God, for those living in rebellion against God for worldly wealth and its honor become powerful agents of Satan.1T 352.2
Wealth cannot be a master alongside God, for one who sells himself to riches and bows to wealth as an idol serves what cannot bless and loses eternity from reckoning; well-gotten wealth is entrusted capital for doing good, making the rich responsible to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate the fatherless and help widows, and neglecting this duty is neglecting Christ in His people.ST Jun 25, 1894
Serving God and serving treasure are opposed in a battle between truth and love of the world requiring sacrifice and full consecration of all possessions, for when truth bears on the heart some almost place sacrifice on the altar but if not fully consecrated the saving influence wears away, the spirit of sacrifice is lost, the foe regains the mind, love of the world revives, and they hug the world and serve treasure instead of God.4MR 437.2
Devotion to God is incompatible with allowing mammon, selfishness or worldly honor to possess the heart, for these loyalties lead people to reject the light of truth, God's counsel and His mercies.3SP 9.2
Someone may profess to serve God yet actually serve worldly gain by disregarding God's commands for personal advantage, showing that truly serving God while serving mammon is impossible.4T 252.2
Right understanding of stewardship in the parable of the talents shuts out the covetousness God calls idolatry, for selfish covetous people are worshipers of mammon not serving God, while practical benevolence gives spiritual life to nominal professors and transforms them into earnest co-workers with Christ in saving sinners.3T 387.2+1
Mammon is earthly treasure held for self, and serving it is wearing a galling yoke of selfishness and covetousness that tasks the soul to accumulate for gratification, overgrows the heart with thorns and cares, closes the heart to Christ so He knocks in vain, and leaves no place for heavenly things and no peace, while Christ calls those weary slaves to exchange it for His easy yoke and light burden of meekness, self-denial and disinterested benevolence, in which the soul finds rest.3T 384.1–2
The masses are giving their lives to mammon instead of God, making wealth, position and pleasure the aim, using God's gifts to gratify selfishness so everything grasped ministers to greed, and gaining wealth by robbery not only of man but of God who owns the earth by creation and redemption and daily blesses the unthankful with rain, light, leaf, flower and fruit; this ingratitude and selfish appropriation is the sin that brought wrath upon Israel and is now bringing ruin upon the world.COL 301.3–302.2
Love of worldly possessions competes with love for Jesus and takes allegiance, and an all-absorbing love of money must be overcome or it will cost salvation.5T 340.1
Love of the world and covetousness enslave people to money, crowd out thoughts of God and heaven, and turn accumulation into the ruling purpose, while serving Christ means taking up self-denial and sacrifice for others and using means and influence to bless others and advance God's work rather than treating possessions as chief concern.RH Aug 25, 1874
Anything placed between a professed Christian and wholehearted service functions as an idol, and allowing it to obstruct loyalty is the grievous sin of idolatry.12MR 330.2
Choosing personal gain over God's kingdom and righteousness is serving mammon, and love of gain leads a person to set aside God's commands and act selfishly and dishonestly.Ms 12, 1897, par. 18–20
Money can become a person's god when love of it prevents trust in God, and worshiping money leads people to sacrifice present happiness and future reward in God's city.Ms 47, 1900, par. 8
Serving mammon means carrying on business on false and deceptive principles at expense of integrity, working underhandedly for control and gain through cupidity, selfishness and oppression, robbing others, dismissing God's Word, being guided by human invention, confederating for selfish ends, and setting aside His injunctions, thereby sacrificing souls on mammon's altar, entangling souls, hindering instruction and giving strength to falsehood, which cannot coexist with serving God.Lt 4, 1896, par. 20–22
Making money one's god is incompatible with serving God, as when a person treats money as supreme, holds it selfishly, gives nothing to support the school, and withholds promised help when circumstances do not suit him.Lt 167, 1897, par. 2–3
A person cannot give first place both to God and to material gain, and serving mammon means letting greed control choices, dismissing God's Word, and sacrificing the soul for dishonest advantage whose success brings ruin, while those who do not seek God's kingdom first set aside a clear command.Lt 40a, 1897, par. 5–6+1
Love of gain can draw affection away until wealth is worshiped in His place, and desire for riches, fame or position can lead people to trade righteousness for reward, grow weaker and endanger salvation, as shown when Judas's covetousness led him to sell his Master.ST Feb 19, 1902
Serving mammon means giving wealth the loyalty belonging to God, and those who profess truth but sacrifice to mammon are spiritually dead, while those who keep integrity and seek God above all serve faithfully, and following Jesus requires self-denial and bearing the cross.Lt 71, 1894, par. 32
God must have supreme love and service because serving mammon, treating possessions or attachments as ruling concerns, cannot coexist with serving God, and parents, children, spouses, friends, property and other treasures become idols when loved selfishly or with inordinate affection, diverting mind, time and service from God, which misrepresents Jesus and violates the demand of the first four commandments for supreme love to God.Ms 19, 1894, par. 15–17
Devotion to wealth competes with devotion to God, so those who make wealth their god subordinate everything else to it; Christians must keep pleasure and everything opposed to Christ's interests subordinate and not waste precious time on vanity, because divided devotion costs present peace and eternal happiness.Lt 71, 1893, par. 15
Property given by God to be used for His cause forces a choice between making God all and in all by standing distinct from the world and linking with the world for prosperity; serving wealth lives under a system where the command against coveting is treated as repealed, those who serve wealth are at variance with the divine code with God absent from thoughts, and safety lies in keeping God's law because His approval is above gold or silver.Lt 38, 1901, par. 24
One who separates from God to serve self becomes a slave to wealth, with life devoted to what is earthly and self-serving rather than to God, squandering years and powers of mind, heart and soul and leaving the person spiritually degraded and bankrupt for eternity.ST May 26, 1909
Money becomes a god when people serve it for gain; educated people in responsibility who accept bribes, and liquor sellers who receive money from drinkers, make money their god, share the curse with the most depraved drunkard, and drive those with appetite into the devil's arms by obtaining license to create drunkards so sellers may have more money.Ms 92, 1893, par. 1
Serving wealth means being led by Satan into false paths through false issues that lead to denial of present truth; those who in thought, word or deed belittle the gospel ministry because it does not sustain them in erratic movements are serving wealth and are on perilous ground.Lt 98, 1900, par. 46–47
Serving wealth means putting own advantage and wealth above loyalty to God; a Christian is a manager of the Lord's property and must use it for the Master's purposes, not make personal gain the ruling interest, for using entrusted goods for personal gain sacrifices honor to wealth and makes one unworthy of trust.Ms 130, 1899, par. 10+1
Those who reject God's gracious invitation to serve worldly interests instead place trust in the world and serve wealth, treating God's service as uncertain and the benefits Christ provided with contempt.Ms 46, 1896, par. 11–13
Money can become a rival master when it governs choices and conflicts with service to God; a confession and moment of conviction do not by themselves overcome a lifetime of serving money, for that practice is difficult to break.Lt 214, 1897, par. 4
Serving wealth means letting worldly gain occupy the thoughts and energies belonging to God, riches can make entering God's kingdom difficult, and material concerns must not displace trust in the Father who knows and provides what His children need.RH Mar 5, 1908

Solomon's downfall shows the danger of being drawn away from God by the world even after wonderful wisdom, proving the need to guard the soul with all diligence lest cares and attractions absorb time belonging to eternal things and imperil the soul by affinity with the world.PK 59.1–2+1 Allegiance to God cannot be divided with service to another master, and no one can safely try to serve both God and the world because God requires undivided loyalty.PK 59.1–2+1 Serving mammon means yielding to worldly interests and influences that draw the heart from God, and Christians must remain distinct from the world.PK 59.1–2 The character formed in this life decides fitness to live through the eternal ages, so each person is working out his own destiny.ST Nov 26, 1896 God is fully able to keep His people in the world but not of the world, watching over His children with steady, measureless and everlasting care.ST Nov 26, 1896

Choosing money is turning Jesus away, for no one can hold to God and to money at the same time.ST May 24, 1877+2 After the loss of the swine the Gadarenes treated Jesus as an unwelcome invader and turned Him from their doors, counting pecuniary loss greater than the restoration of the two lunatics to reason and the mercy and power of One who had baffled the Prince of Darkness before their eyes.ST May 24, 1877+2 The same truth applies to all who refuse to follow Christ's teachings because obedience would require sacrificing some worldly interest.ST May 24, 1877+2 In the pursuits of life they turn Jesus from their hearts for fear His presence will cost them money, overlook His grace, and their fear of financial loss and attachment to wealth drive His Spirit from them.ST May 24, 1877+1

Keeping attention fixed on the heavenly crown and refusing to turn toward earthly attractions illustrates choosing God rather than serving wealth, since commitment to one conflicts with love and loyalty to the other.CET 163.1–2 Attention fixed on the world makes a person worldly, while attention kept on Christ prepares for fellowship with angels.CET 163.1–2 Love of money can displace love for the Saviour and become a person's ruling loyalty.ST May 23, 1878+1 Judas's unchecked greed grew until he became an idolater serving mammon rather than God, with love of money stronger than love for Christ as the ruling motive enslaving him to avarice.ST May 23, 1878+1 Enslavement to avarice can lead a person to commit grave crimes and even sell integrity and the Saviour for worldly gain, for by becoming a slave to avarice he gave himself over to sin.ST May 23, 1878+1

The rich young man showed this conflict when he chose to keep his possessions rather than give them up and follow Jesus to receive eternal life.1T 350.1–2 Those who cling to riches and love them cannot love Jesus or serve God wholeheartedly, for loyalty to God and devotion to earthly wealth cannot coexist.1T 350.1–2 People may profess to seek heaven's treasure while making acquisition of earthly wealth their chief concern, but choices reveal which master they serve, and light once given can become darkness when not cherished.1T 350.1–2 Balaam and Judas both tried to combine service to God with pursuit of worldly gain, and their conflicting loyalties ended in failure and ruin.ST Dec 16, 1880+1 Each had received great spiritual light and special privileges, yet a cherished sin corrupted character and brought destruction.PP 452.1 Balaam could no longer waver between the two but chose the wages of unrighteousness over heaven's favor despite received sacred truth, and was counted among God's enemies.ST Dec 16, 1880+1

Ananias and Sapphira illustrate divided allegiance by covetously keeping back what had been promised to God while professing to serve Him, for serving God is incompatible with serving mammon or wealth.AA 73.4–74.1+1 Their fraud shows God detects hidden sin and will not be mocked, calling believers to reject covetousness, pretense and hypocrisy.AA 73.4–74.1+1 Their property and its proceeds were theirs to give or keep, but pretending their gift was the whole amount made their hypocrisy a lie against God, since love of money led them to deceive and withhold part of what they claimed to give.ST Nov 21, 1878 The judgment on them warned the church against professed service to God joined with covetousness.AA 73.4–74.1+1 Trying to combine light with darkness divides the heart, as shown when Solomon's attempt to do both changed him from a just, God-fearing king into a tyrant who separated from God, lost knowledge of God and turned after other gods.Ms 40, 1898, par. 18

Jesus understands the human heart and the danger of temptations to make the world all-absorbing, teaching the comparative claims of heaven and earth in faith and love.2MR 328.2 If those temptations prevail, love of God is expelled from the soul and love of the world fills the vacuum, and no earthly power can change this order.2MR 328.2 Love of God brought back into the heart brings God's power which, working with human effort, dislodges love of the world by keeping a better world in view.2MR 328.2 Devotion to wealth can otherwise cast aside promises, drive love of God from the heart, blind sight to the future world, and only God's power can displace it.2MR 328.2 Huram served mammon when his unusual skill was driven by grasping for highest wages rather than desire to serve God, giving wealth and selfish gain the loyalty belonging to God.RH Jan 4, 1906 His influence spread covetousness among workers, weakened self-denial, and contributed to extravagance, oppression and apostasy.RH Jan 4, 1906

The scribes and Pharisees served mammon rather than using it for God's kingdom, giving wealth and self-interest the place belonging to God.Ms 4, 1900, par. 1 Their selfishness, covetousness and unjustly gained riches led them toward evil and brought no lasting gain.Ms 4, 1900, par. 1

No one can keep a world-loving attitude, worldly habits and practices, and pleasures congenial to natural inclination while serving God, and joining worldly amusements, festivities and fashions to gain influence and lift the world to a Christian level cannot convert it but meets insurmountable obstacles.RH Jul 23, 1901+2 A life given to mammon is filled with pride and love of the world, a mind engrossed with transitory pleasures until heaven is forgotten, and a soul temple defiled by worldliness and self-love, while serving God cleanses the temple for Christ's abiding presence and fills the mind with God and heaven until there is no room for this world.Ms 9, 1885, par. 3–4+2 Followers of Christ are therefore separate and distinct, with a plain sharp clear line of demarcation between God's children and worldlings, keeping the world's pleasures out of view and refusing to let social parties, frivolous entertainment and absorbing distractions divide loyalty and turn attention from God's work.Ms 5, 1886, par. 8+2 Holding to God requires striving against many temptations to overcome, and continued striving brings perfect success from Christ.Ms 19, 1888, par. 13

Love for the world and devotion to God cannot be held together, and those whose affections are fixed on the world become double-minded, lose sense of duty to God, and cannot discern sacred truth even while professing to follow Christ.1T 530.3+1 They must cleanse themselves from worldly pollution and purify hearts through obedience to truth, or they will lose both worlds.1T 530.3 The choice is between Jesus and worldly pride, display and favor, for the attractions and temporary advantages of this life compete with eternal interests and clinging to them prevents retaining God's love.2T 493.2

Christian mothers cannot give time and abilities to fashion and the world and remain fit to serve God by training children for this life and eternity, for worship at fashion's shrine leaves mind and body unfit for God's work including training children and supporting healthy development.Ms 88, 1886, par. 5–7+1 Devotion to God cannot be joined with devotion to earthly wealth pictured as an earthly crown pursued for power, honor and fame, for those clinging to its treasures neglect others and lose sight of the heavenly crown.CET 161.2–162.2 Wanting both heavenly inheritance and friendship with the world is incompatible, since worldly fashions, extravagance and practices hold people in bondage and lead away from Christ, so those professing to belong to God must be separate and transformed in mind with actions and fruits revealing whom they serve, and anything less than entire consecration forfeits the heavenly reward.Lt 16, 1861, par. 23–24

Loyalty to God cannot be shared with loyalty to the world, and worldly relatives and friends who reject truth can draw affections and habits away from God's claims.5T 543.1+1 Believers should let light shine among them without adopting their ideas, customs or practices, and if faithfulness cannot be kept in such company less association is better for spiritual life.5T 543.1+1 Bad influences weaken moral strength, make sacred things and sacred duties seem less important, and lead a person to take on the spirit and ideas of those around, leaving especially deep impressions on children and youth so that choice of associations for them is particularly important.5T 543.1+1

The master obeyed shows whose servant a person is, so no one can serve God while giving allegiance to the world or remaining under the devil's rule.SG4 302.1–2+1 Christian profession without corresponding faith and works does not make one God's servant, and those yielding to the devil and his works remain his servants until they renounce him and all his works.SG4 302.1–2+1 Serving God requires separation from worldly pleasures belonging to the practice of Satan's servants, and taking part in them is not harmless merely because called harmless.SG4 302.1–2+1

Cherishing the world's spirit leads to defiance of God, faultfinding with truth-bearers, and using God-given talents against His work, and friendship with the world puts a person on Satan's side, for Christ and Belial have no concord.5T 340.2 The natural heart is hostile to God and resists even clear evidence of truth, while the wicked reject light exposing wrong.5T 340.2 Devotion to God cannot be divided with devotion to wealth, honor or approval, for serving God requires unreserved surrender, and seeking the world's praise and friendship with those opposing God's claims places a person on the enemy's ground exposed to spiritual danger.5T 436.1

Praising Christ while embracing worldly ways, seeking the world's company while claiming God's blessing, wanting Christ as Saviour while refusing the cross and His yoke, and bowing to both God and mammon are divided service of two masters.5T 76.3+1 Persisting in that lukewarm state faces rejection, and serving God while more earnestly serving mammon is denial of Christ, for a professed Christian controlled by the world's selfish spirit rather than joined to Christ denies rather than confesses Him, and half-and-half work is denying Christ.TBC1882 59.1+2 Men professing to serve God while in fact serving mammon are serving mammon, not God.Ms 116, 1894, par. 12–13

People serve either God or the world: God's servants obey Him and follow Christ in simplicity, meekness and humility, while the world's servants pursue fashion, extravagance and appetite.4T 571.2–3 The two ways must remain clearly distinct, and Christians are not to conform to worldly standards but their self-control and simplicity should shine as witness to help correct others' wrong habits.4T 571.2–3+1 Extravagant display at the expense of holy principles belongs to the world's way, not the distinct life required of those who would inherit the homes Christ has prepared, who are to follow His meekness and do good.Lt 21, 1894, par. 3–4

Serving God requires refusing to let the world's fashions, principles and policy control the heart, for allegiance cannot be blended with worldly policy or unrighteousness.ST Aug 6, 1885+1 When worldly influences possess the heart, wrong things seem right, understanding of God's word and will grows unclear, and conscience dulls until disobedience is mistaken for holiness.ST Aug 6, 1885 The difference between Christ's character and Satan's is unmistakable and only those living Christ's life can work with Him, for cherishing even one sin or keeping one wrong practice contaminates the whole person and makes one an instrument of unrighteousness.DA 313.1

Those who serve God and those who do not serve opposing masters with no concord, so in marriage difference in faith, tastes, inclinations and purposes makes union with an unbeliever spiritually dangerous and able to lead even a principled believer away.MYP 464.1–2 God's claims must remain above every earthly relationship, though faithful love and meekness toward an unbelieving spouse may help win that person.MYP 464.1–2 Followers of Jesus guided by spiritual things and those without love for sacred things guided by worldly influences likewise serve different masters with opposed purposes, hopes, tastes and desires, so attempts to unite their principles fail and voluntary association with the worldly can lead God's people away.MYP 395.2

No one who truly loves God can be loyal both to God and to secret orders not under God's control, for God's children must act as under the divine eye with His holy standard, justice and truth established in the soul.RH Apr 13, 1916 He who keeps integrity toward God will be upright toward man and will not for gold, silver, honor or any earthly advantage expose the soul to temptation, so either the tie must be severed or the person will assimilate more closely, unite more fully, and sever ties with those who love and fear God.RH Apr 13, 1916 It is better to lose money, possessions and life itself than imperil vital interests of the soul, abandoning everything hindering spirituality.RH Apr 13, 1916

Serving God is incompatible with serving the world in dress and life, for following Christ means obedience, simplicity, meekness and humility while serving the world pursues fashions, extravagant dress, costly display and appetite.CH 282.2+1 Clinging to such ornaments cherishes pride and vanity and seeks attention, and walking contrary to God's instruction cannot bring peace of mind or God's approval.4T 644.2–645.2 Christians must not lower the standard to blend in but let conduct shine as a light to others.CH 282.2

Making the world master is shown when minds given to earthly gain serve self and cannot serve God's law, as in trading and pursuing the best bargain at the Sabbath's expense where the world has become god.1T 150.1–2 Those professing to await Jesus should be willing to lose a little rather than let sharp dealing display love of the world and harm influence.1T 150.1–2 Professing godliness while finding pleasure and happiness in the world shows affections fixed on earthly rather than heavenly things, leaving a person unable to discern or enjoy spiritual things yet content to bear the Christian name while serving both.2T 138.2+1 Earthly interests and pleasures hold the heart in subjection, reveal self-deception, and make divided allegiance a burden and curse to the church, for true service is marked by willing obedience and genuine love rather than attachment to the world and its desires.2T 138.2+2

No one can serve God while making the world master by depending on its praise, favor and approval, for such dependence leaves one controlled by its spirit and aims rather than by love and fear of God.STMW6 8.1 Those belonging to Christ must not be trained to serve mammon, seek human praise or submit to the world, but education and service must be directed toward immortal life, not this brief uncertain life.FE 470.2+1 No one can give wholehearted service to both God and the world, so for young people merely appearing Christian or knowing truth in theory is not enough but they must live it in practice, for temptations reveal whether they truly serve God or yield to worldly ties.MYP 139.4–140.1

There is irreconcilable antagonism between Christ and the world, for conformity to the world and harmony with Christ cannot be maintained.Ms 62, 1894, par. 39–40 Worldly maxims and practices sap spirituality from heart and life, and conformity meaning resemblance in meeting the world's standard shows love of God does not dwell in one who assimilates.Ms 62, 1894, par. 39–40+1 Everyone loving Jesus must live above the world with eye single to God's glory, revealing transforming grace molding character after Christ and letting heavenly light shine in Christlike actions to save sinners, for the world is drawn only by wearing Christ's yoke and never by lowering to its level, and the moment a professed Christian follows worldly fashions he becomes an idolater and stumbling block.Ms 62, 1894, par. 39–40+1

No one can live in allegiance to both Christ and the devil, for serving one excludes the other and there is no middle ground.Lt 1e, 1890, par. 13+2 The verse calls for turning away from sinful company and choosing Christ rather than trying to keep a life of sin while seeking Him, and changing sides requires decisive commitment rather than halfway work, shown by the life lived.Lt 1e, 1890, par. 13+1 Serving God requires turning away from sin rather than dividing allegiance.Lt 1e, 1890, par. 13+1 Those professing to serve God must show by pursuits and affections that they stand distinct from the world, standing firm in principle and refusing to let peer pressure, worldly approval, appetite or passion lead to sin, since yielding makes a person their slave and turns him from God.Ms 69, 1906, par. 13–15+1

Giving mind and attention to theatrical performances can weaken hunger for God, love for Bible religion, assurance, peace, joy and hope, warning that serving God requires an undivided heart.11MR 340.3 Serving God while remaining attached to worldly practice is divided service, and half conversion is a snare that can lead others into the same, while truly converted people show transformation of character and marked change in life.Ms 173, 1903, par. 19 Keeping a name on the church roll while cleaving to and loving the world is serving the world and ambitious plans instead of Christ, and a religion allowing membership together with love of the world is divided service that cannot serve God, encouraged by shrewd politicians who know men must have some religion, making an opposing influence wherever truth is planted.Lt 54, 1900, par. 3

Devotion to wealth is rival allegiance to God, part of apostasy like Israel's worship of Baal, placing human priorities above the divine.PK 170.2 No one can enter partnership with Christ and Belial at the same time, but must stand under God's colors, the commandments of God and testimony of Jesus, making it first work to seek God's kingdom and righteousness.Lt 4, 1898, par. 32–33 This forbids mixing with political questions, being unequally yoked in political strife, binding in attachments and alliances with political movements, for loyal and disloyal have no equal ground, light has no communion with darkness and the elements never mingle, requiring no intercourse with idolaters and keeping voting to oneself rather than urging all to do the same, for violation of this separation overthrew the Jewish nation.Lt 4, 1898, par. 32–33

Seeking worldly conformity and yielding to carnal desires while professing to serve God is a divided heart, shown by using God's money to imitate the world, and church membership alone does not establish discipleship, for loyalty is shown by separation from worldliness, self-denial and bearing the cross.Ms 8a, 1894, par. 4 Pursuing the world's approval through harmful practices is serving a false master rather than God, forfeiting God's favor and weakening spiritual life, while serving God requires surrendering body, soul and spirit to His will.Ms 35, 1902, par. 12–15 Parents cannot serve God while serving wealth and worldly display, for choices and conduct reveal which master is served, and competing with neighbors and church members in dress and display is serving mammon that shapes children for the world rather than for Christ.Ms 12, 1898, par. 25–28

Serving mammon excludes serving God just as serving God means separating from service of Baal, requiring forsaking sin and evil and rising to the Lord's standard rather than lowering it, and following this path to eternal life brings Christ's easy yoke and light burden.Ms 83, 1886, par. 23 Clinging to the world and its riches is incompatible with seeking heaven and its treasure, so choosing God requires cutting loose from the world and making a real change in life.Lt 9, 1857, par. 9–11 Those clinging to the world cannot fully serve God, for truth may require giving up worldly honor, business standing or even daily bread, yet people falter valuing opinions or seeking gain, while Christ's becoming poor shows the self-sacrifice loyalty requires and earthly riches are uncertain and passing.ST Dec 1, 1887

Letting earthly matters, especially clothing and outward display, absorb the mind divides devotion, for Solomon's pursuit of outward splendor shows how preoccupation with display can displace character and connection with God unto corruption, apostasy and idolatry.4T 628.1–2 Serving God while pursuing one's own way and worldly interests is divided loyalty like trying to serve God and mammon, leading to continued mistakes and failures, and only complete surrender to God can redeem the past and leave those errors behind.Lt 50, 1907, par. 21–22+1

Sanitarium workers are warned against self-seeking and called to unselfish devotion that lifts up Christ.CH 255.2–3 Applied to the Health Retreat, wholehearted service requires self-denial and breaking ties that draw away from Him.Lt 40, 1891, par. 12–15 Worldly, unsanctified workers who do not honor the Sabbath undermine the institution's purpose and influence others against its principles, and a few devoted Christians are better than many capable workers without connection with God.Lt 40, 1891, par. 12–15

Ambition for status and high wages reveals an attempt to blend two services, and such ambition accompanies sin.STBk 58.2+2 Those who desire riches are called to be content, yield the will to the Holy Spirit, work in the place God assigned, and seek His approval rather than pushing a fellow worker aside or competing to advance personal plans.AFUP 13.3+1 True unity among God's people comes through the power of the Holy Spirit, not through worldly aims.STBk 58.2

No one can divide service between God and another master, so all connected with God's appointed institutions must be consecrated soul, body, and spirit, with mind under the Holy Spirit's control and surrendered to God.Lt 27, 1896, par. 5–8 One who feels under no obligation to surrender serves the other master and cannot serve God.Lt 27, 1896, par. 5–8 If allowed to handle sacred work, the enemy will use him to hurt the work and cause loss and hindrance through secret, underhand influence.Lt 27, 1896, par. 5–8 Therefore unbelievers must not be permanently employed in sacred work, and those no nearer conversion after opportunity to know the truth must be quietly dismissed without causing irritation and revenge.Lt 27, 1896, par. 5–8

Ministers, physicians, and other responsible people and medical missionary workers cannot seek worldly pre-eminence and the highest wages or divide loyalty between God and worldly aims while claiming wholehearted service.STOM 46.2+2 For ministers, physicians, and men in responsibility, seeking preeminence and striving for the highest wages while professing to work with God is sin.1MR 217.1 Such competing loyalties blur and make faint the line between church and world, and God's people can be united only through the Holy Spirit.STOM 46.2+1 True heart-moving work comes only by living connection with God, with God first taking hold of the worker so the worker can take hold of others.1MR 217.1

Serving God and serving worldly wealth are incompatible, so ministers cannot honor God while promoting speculative investments or pursuing gain as aim.GW92 199.2 The heart follows its treasure, so believers are to seek lasting treasure in heaven rather than worldly profit.GW92 199.2 Those responsible for God's institutions must not compromise truth or partner with worldly people to gain money, status, or support.RH Feb 1, 1906 God requires undivided loyalty while keeping His people in the world without taking on its spirit and influences.RH Feb 1, 1906

Applied to Christian institutions and members, no motive or gain can justify divided allegiance, and they must not adopt worldly principles or seek patronage at the cost of duty to God.FE 501.3+1 When Christ rules the heart there is separation from the world's spirit and influences.FE 501.3 There can be no union between God and mammon, which requires remaining a distinct and separate people without idolatrous connection.Ms 169, 1902, par. 61–63 It forbids binding to follow the wisdom of worldly men to secure gifts and conforming somewhat to their standard while remaining Seventh-day Adventists, and seeking gifts by adapting religious work to wealthy worldly people's standards binds the work to their wisdom and departs from God.Ms 169, 1902, par. 61–63+1

Blessing comes while keeping separate from the world, and departing brings great displeasure.Ms 169, 1902, par. 61–63 When walking with God in dependent faith, He will open hearts of wealthy men who never professed religion to give freely without conditions or restrictions, because all gold and silver and cattle upon a thousand hills are the Lord's.Ms 169, 1902, par. 61–63 Conference and church leaders who are not self-denying and carry no burden for souls are trying to serve both God and mammon.GW92 257.4–258.1 Their divided loyalty leaves them unfaithful to responsibility for churches and God's work.GW92 257.4–258.1+1

Serving mammon is having selfishness and covetousness inwrought in the very fibers of being, revealed in grasping for the highest wages.STB 782.2–3 That grasping spirit spreads to associates, making them lose sight of the holy character of God's work, compare wages, lose self-denial and sacrifice, foster covetousness, demand more, and open the way to luxury and extravagance.STB 782.2–3 Permeating all branches of the Lord's service, this service of mammon oppresses the poor, destroys self-sacrifice, corrupts workers and kingdom, and becomes a principal cause of apostasy, as shown when Solomon set grasping Huram over temple building.STB 782.2–3+2 Huram's work was driven not by unselfish desire to serve God but by selfish principles, and his influence weakened self-denial and helped foster extravagance, oppression, and corruption.SSP 7.2–3+1

Teachers must give themselves fully to God rather than mix sacred with common, since divided service imperils the soul.6T 159.1 Divided affections bar missionary service, and self-interest damages work and influence; a heart divided between God and mammon is not right with God and God cannot work with it.4T 350.1 Those employed in God's sacred publishing work cannot divide strength between that work and separate private interest outside it.Ms 3, 1869, par. 4–5 Devotion calls forth full strength of brain and muscle with no reserve for another enterprise, so all private business and merchandise in the office must be abolished.Ms 3, 1869, par. 4–5

In restaurant work loyalty cannot be divided between God and money, which forbids running hygienic restaurants to make large sums or for commercial advantage.8MR 402.3–403.1 Satisfying bodily hunger is only a means to prepare people to stand in judgment, requiring presenting truth on Christ's coming, evangelistic work, temperance, warning of coming wrath, simplicity, and neglecting prayer in no way while refusing Satan's fictions.8MR 402.3–403.1 Divided loyalty ends in loss of service to Christ when youth put to waiting on worldlings merely to supply temporal wants become linked to the world with little time or disposition to serve God.Ms 217, 1902, par. 1–2 Opening restaurants even on the Sabbath to feed worldlings shows being one with darkness instead of seeking to save souls.Ms 217, 1902, par. 1–2

Service to God cannot be divided with devotion to personal business enterprises or commercial business by ministers.GW 339.1 When earthly business occupies mind and heart, service to Christ takes second place and spiritual perception is dimmed.GW 339.1 Circumstances must be shaped to meet God's demands rather than shaping God's work around personal interests.GW 339.1 Diverting means from missions to ambitious designs, practicing any method to please lust for gain and power, mingling human wisdom with the divine, confusing minds about right methods, and unjustly acquiring means at another's expense are serving mammon.Ms 26, 1899, par. 29–30 Those who do these join those who count gain as godliness, prove they do not love God wholly and neighbor as required, prove they have not learned God's holy law and its explanation in the gospel given upon the Mount, and need repentance, conversion, and cleansing of the soul temple.Ms 26, 1899, par. 29–30

Allegiance cannot be divided with a rival organizational commitment that absorbs time, blunts spiritual perception, and weakens judgment, so the connection must be severed to be wholly on the Lord's side.Ms 39, 1892, par. 47–49+1 Those under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel cannot be united with Free Masons or any secret organization, for Christ is not divided.Lt 21, 1893, par. 1–2 No one who keeps such connection after light has shone will receive the seal of the living God.Lt 21, 1893, par. 1–2 Directing the church's energy, interest, and money toward a selfish or misplaced project instead of the work God appointed hinders that work and dishonors God.Lt 16, 1891, par. 9–10+1

Believers and unbelievers serve two masters and therefore cannot properly be linked together in the Lord's work.Lt 283, 1905, par. 1–4 God's people are forbidden to bind up with the world in business partnerships of any kind, especially in establishing a sanitarium and building up His institutions.Lt 283, 1905, par. 1–4 A Christian engaged in business must not make the world a god or devote all energies to serving mammon, but follows Christ through worldly pressures, gives God glory for success, and remembers earthly riches will soon pass away.ST Jun 26, 1893 Choice of whom to serve matters, since choosing influences that form character fit for God's kingdom makes work acceptable, while choosing otherwise can make it fail.STMW7 36.1–3

No one can divide loyalty between the Lord and the wicked one.17MR 281.1–2 Workers unwilling to fulfill God's Word show divided service by vacillating, sometimes serving the Lord and sometimes the wicked one, which disqualifies them from sanitarium work.17MR 281.1–2 The single service required belongs to those with genuine experience as God's children who do God's works and do not shut out the Holy Spirit, so workers must be carefully chosen and tried and those who cannot bear the test not kept.17MR 281.1–2 Accepting Christ's yoke pledges lives to His service, which takes priority even amid business engagements, and anything hindering or damaging full service must be broken away whatever it is.Lt 117, 1896, par. 22

Those driven by wealth and high wages should pursue ambitions in the world, while those who would serve Christ should unite abilities to build His kingdom and do good.Lt 80, 1886, par. 5 Business becomes a master when ambition, money, and demands of partners consume time and strength, lead to breaking the Sabbath, and keep from obeying God.Ms 34, 1897, par. 36–38 Leaving the church to gain freedom to continue this course does not end divided service but still betrays God's cause.Ms 34, 1897, par. 36–38 Allowing temporal and worldly business to crowd out the soul's highest interests and make religious devotion secondary is serving mammon, and it is not safe for the soul.Ms 19, 1894, par. 4–5

No one can be double-minded, serving the Lord at one time and selfish purposes at another in plans and actions.1MR 213.1 Service must be with eye single to God's glory without selfish motives in business, professional practice, and institutional work such as publishing house, sanitarium, and college, and the short probation must be kept pure.1MR 213.1 A physician who is servant of Jesus alone lets God's glory shine and makes Christianity a power, while selfishness in words, habits, and maxims sows a baneful harvest.1MR 213.1 Many serve mammon, but some remain loyal to Christ and keep themselves unspotted, holding fast integrity and using abilities He gave in faithful, upright service.Lt 21, 1886, par. 18–19

Christians must not compromise with lovers of mammon.Ms 2, 1885, par. 20–21 Going to work wholly for Jesus with self forgotten brings strength and imparted grace sufficient for each day.Ms 2, 1885, par. 20–21 Anyone holding idols must let Jesus and faith come deeper into the heart, because life is sacred duty and not for pleasing self.Ms 2, 1885, par. 20–21 Mammon here includes the world's esteem, honor, applause, and profits, and choosing these over Christ leaves a person with no part in Him.2T 149.2 Those taking leading positions in sacred work must turn from worldly policy and inclinations or choose work suited to them.2T 149.2

Attempting to serve both is half-hearted work and disobedience.Ms 4a, 1885, par. 9–10 For workers in God's health institution it requires greater separation from the world, refusing to copy worldly institutions in practice or moral standing, refusing to unite with the world to gain patronage, and refusing to be drawn by pleasure or amusement away from justice and duty, in order to reach the high, pure, noble standard erected by Christ.Ms 4a, 1885, par. 9–10 Devotion to wealth conflicts with service in business, where greed and desire to gain can make a person set aside God's commands, so religion must not yield to business and God's people must act honestly rather than let worldly practices govern them.Lt 80, 1886, par. 6–7 Honesty and self-serving policy are opposed, greed and avarice must be overcome, and those choosing honesty should express it in all actions.4T 607.2

Serving God means selling possessions, giving alms, and putting means into the treasury to sustain and advance His work on earth, using entrusted means as His almoner to help others receive truth, practicing strict economy to have means to bring to the Lord in thanksgiving, and making money always serve God's purposes through wise use that blesses others and supports saving souls.Lt 70, 1893, par. 29–33+4 Hoarding wealth for self puts heart and service on the earthly side, for where treasure is laid the heart goes with it, while giving for God's cause lays up lasting treasure in heaven safe from moth, rust and thieves and keeps the eye single and the life full of light.Lt 70, 1893, par. 29–33+2 Serving mammon reveals its choice through priorities, entangling means in worldly possessions, lands, mines, real estate, earthly banks, speculations and land deals, taking money out of God's institutions and burying it where His cause is not benefited, fostering greed that begrudges every dollar called for His work and giving farms, possessions, time and abilities precedence over God's work.Lt 70, 1893, par. 29–33+2 The world taken as master in this way is a hard master to serve and Satan's agent to captivate souls, in opposition to the power moving from above that works with willing and obedient watchmen.Lt 41a, 1888, par. 23–25 Faithfulness does not require parting with money in large sums and shifting responsibility upon others, but acquiring wisdom to stand as faithful steward dealing with the Lord's goods with wisdom and discrimination, so that talents wisely employed gain rich experience and make one rich in good works blessing fellow men.16MR 257.5

Intended spending is to be examined by asking whether it pleases God and glorifies Him, refusing to use God's means for self-gratification instead of supporting the spread of truth, for such choices must be answered for in judgment in practical Christian life.2T 128.2+1 Believing Christ's word requires living by it with His self-sacrificing Spirit, denying self, lifting the cross and giving to send truth to regions beyond instead of spending on bicycles and other needless self-pleasing things.Lt 8, 1896, par. 18–20 Selfish practices and feeble, sleepy efforts for missions bring shame to Christ, show only partial belief, and money so wasted must be accounted for in the great day of judgment.Lt 8, 1896, par. 18–20 Where thoughts are centered determines the life, with attention fixed on the world making a person worldly, while keeping attention on Christ and living by heaven's principles and bringing Christ into business dealings as well as worship prepares for fellowship with angels and living untainted by worldliness.Ms 31, 1901, par. 18–19+1

Pride and self-sufficiency in positions of responsibility make personal interests rather than God the master, so that such persons act foolishly and must be removed from trust, for a single undivided aim brings spiritual light while a divided or corrupt aim leaves in darkness and the heart follows what is treasured.Lt 271, 1903, par. 19 Obedience to civil rulers is not serving both God and evil and does not make obedience to princes incompatible with serving God, for ultimate allegiance cannot be given to two opposing masters.GC88 191.2–3 The principle was falsely used to claim that obeying rulers meant serving both God and Belial to reject all civil authority, which helped lead to rebellion and bloodshed.4SP 150.1–2 Loyalty to God cannot be joined with loyalty to a rival master in blending human opinions and scientific theories with Scripture, for their competing claims cannot be placed on common basis while remaining faithful.CE 79.1+2 Their interests clash, so choosing to harmonize the Bible with contradictory theories and attempting to make scientific writings harmonize with Scripture when they conflict is a failed attempt to serve both God and mammon and to serve both God and the world's wisdom.FE 181.2–182.1+1

The heart's master is seen in what it loves and values, with a heart surrendered to God loving God's word while the carnal mind finds no pleasure in it, and when the mind is renewed the word becomes spiritually beautiful and life-giving.CE 79.2 Serving the world and seeking its gain and honor makes service to God secondary, and Jesus taught this to keep eternity in reckoning and to draw minds to contemplate sacred truth of high immortal character that expands and elevates the mind and ennobles the soul.ST Nov 5, 1894 God is now testing His people in probation to see whether they have chosen Christ or mammon, for no one can serve both, and the test is present use of entrusted time, strength, means, light and mental abilities with eternal welfare decided by present course.ST Jan 28, 1886 Honoring God here by right use proves fitness for heaven, for unfaithfulness in lesser responsibilities disqualifies from weightier eternal responsibilities, and choosing Christ is shown by having His Spirit, bearing fruit in confession and conduct toward others, and giving self in sacrifice as Christ renounced heaven's enjoyments and earthly comforts and consented to poverty to reach the poor.ST Jan 28, 1886

Youth must surrender self, pleasure and worldly spending and use means as God's stewards, for giving reluctantly while spending lavishly on self-gratification is not faithful service, and serving Christ means obeying Him and choosing expenditures and actions by whether they please and glorify God.TBC1868 16.1–17.1 The choice requires surrender to His will and overcoming habits unfit for heaven, and parents are to teach this by example consecrating lives to God and giving no place to foolishness, pride or vanity if they hope to share the redeemed's future life.RH Feb 1, 1912 Serving mammon means giving worldly interests the devotion belonging to God, and parents who make wealth their chief aim sacrifice children's spiritual welfare, neglect means of grace, expose them to temptation, and leave no room for Jesus and misrepresent Him, so parents must guide children to choose between service to God unto eternal life and service to mammon unto eternal death.5T 320.2+2 Riches become a rival master when they rule a person, giving Satan supremacy and turning entrusted wealth into a test of character in probation, where riches can deceive and if they conquer bring loss of soul.Ms 150, 1898, par. 25–26 Loving God supremely and neighbor as oneself leads to righteous use, while using money for self while leaving God out and refusing His counsel fails the test, for love of money becomes a root of evil.Ms 150, 1898, par. 25–26

Those who give worldly possessions the devotion owed to the Creator make mammon their god and exclude God from life's center, while money belongs to God and is entrusted for benevolent service, and refusing to let it benefit others reveals falsity of profession and turns gift into idol.ST Sep 11, 1901 When love of the world regains control people serve treasure instead of God, and earthly possessions lent by God to advance His work become idols when claimed as one's own and loved too much.15MR 326.2–327.1+1 The choice is between truth and love of the world, all must be surrendered to Jesus, and watchfulness and prayer are needed to overcome possessions and keep the heart devoted, for when sacrifice is not fully consecrated love of the world chokes truth so it bears no fruit.15MR 326.2–327.1+1 God does not accept a divided heart, and since the whole sacrifice of Christ provides full salvation, believers are to give whole selves to God and receive salvation through His merits rather than trying to earn or pay for it.Lt 148, 1897, par. 9–12

Trying to serve both includes compromising obedience for business or convenience, and the right choice is to take the Lord's side and trust Him, keeping the Sabbath even if it requires changing business and accepting consequences.Ms 26, 1886, par. 27 Taking financial matters and temporal enterprises upon oneself divides the heart and keeps the mind from being fruitful in Scriptures, and the only safe path is to refuse financial burdens and follow implicitly the light God has given.4MR 265.4–266.1 Money becomes a rival master when treated as god both in extravagant spending on self and in such extreme carefulness that it is not used at all, since hoarded means do not advance God's cause, do no one good, and may be swept away by wrath, and those who cling in this way lose heavenly treasure, for God loves open-hearted, generous giving.Lt 11, 1856, par. 11 To refuse to obey Christ's requirements and fail to devote every capability to His service is to rob God, for Christianity is not half-and-half work but demands full conversion giving understanding of spiritual things that unites with Christ and one another in love.17MR 44.3–4 Devotion to wealth can lead people to cast aside God's promises, drive love of God from the heart, let love of the world rule, and blind sight to the future world, and only God's power can displace it.ST Jun 10, 1913

Devotion to God is incompatible with a mind absorbed in excessive provision for this life, though this does not excuse idleness, for Christian service includes diligent work while giving self wholly to God rather than making material concerns master.5T 42.1 Parents who put worldly interests above the moral atmosphere in choosing a home, and who let the world engross time, strength and thought, are serving wealth and not God.HM Jun 1889 That choice makes a costly offering of children to wealth, like Canaanites offering children to Molech, by placing families in temptation, forming associations unfavorable to piety, neglecting means of grace, and not counting God's presence as essential glory and defense, resulting in apathy, contamination, loss of tenderness, children growing unloved and impious with tendency to infidelity, so parents reap what they sowed and cannot blame professed faith, and God does not work a miracle to deliver children from temptation so chosen.HM Jun 1889 Serving God is incompatible with serving the world in parenting, since parents who give themselves to worldly pleasures cannot faithfully train children for eternity, and priorities must be shown in choosing children's spiritual good over diversions that draw time and attention away.RH Feb 8, 1912

Divided affection appears when love for God is mixed with greed for personal gain, as in scheming to buy below value and sell above it for advantage, which harms spiritual life, leads to dishonest treatment, and conflicts with loving God wholeheartedly and neighbor as oneself.Lt 3, 1878, par. 1 Service to God and service to Satan are opposing allegiances that cannot be combined, as shown when Elijah called apostate Israel to serve the Lord if He is God or Baal if Baal is, and a person must choose whom to serve.ST Mar 24, 1887 Apparent benefits such as prolonged life or temporal gain do not make disobedience wise or safe but bring irrecoverable loss in the end.ST Mar 24, 1887