TRANSCRIPT Are You A Believer With Divided Loyalties Or One With Undivided Loyalties? Psalm 119 A Sermon By Elise Beatrice - Saturday 19 July 2025 “Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread; forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are Yours. Now and Forever. Amen." Holy Father, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, thank You for Psalm 119. Thank You, Lord, for Your truth; thank You for Your Holy Spirit. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Lord, thank You for whatever You give us. Thank You for helping me to understand this and to express it in a way You want me to. So, we love You, God, and we thank You for our daily bread. Yes, thank You for delivering us from evil, as You always have been doing and will always do. In Your Holy Name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Father God, thank You; hear my prayer, please, in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen. Psalm 119:113-120 "113 I hate those with divided loyalties, but I love Your instructions. 114 You are my refuge and my shield; Your word is my source of hope. 115 Get out of my life, you evil-minded people, for I intend to obey the commands of my God. 116 Lord, sustain me as You promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. 117 Sustain me, and I will be rescued; then I will meditate continually on Your decrees. 118 But You have rejected all who stray from Your decrees. They are only fooling themselves. 119 You skim off the wicked of the earth like scum; no wonder I love to obey Your laws! 120 I tremble in fear of You; I stand in awe of Your regulations." So, since it is not specified who wrote this Psalm, I must refer to that person as another servant of the Lord. In this passage, he begins by saying, "I hate those with divided loyalties." So, does he really hate those with divided loyalties? Suppose those people did not really have divided loyalties; would he have something to hate? No. So, what I believe he's indeed saying here is that he hates 'divided loyalties,' he hates sin, he hates what they are doing. Often, we hear many people say, "Oh, I hate that thing; oh, I hate those types of people; oh, I hate..." But if we examine that, we're going to see that what they're indeed hating is what those people are doing, because if people were not doing those things, they would have nothing to hate. Obviously, when people are doing good things, you cannot say, 'I hate those people,' except when under the evil influence of evil spirits, who hate God and even His servants for doing nothing wrong. But this servant of the Lord is not influenced by evil spirits. But when people are doing evil things, some tend to say, "Oh, I hate those people." But that is just what humans are used to say. But if they have to examine and truly examine themselves to see whether they hate that person or not, they would be surprised to find out that they don't actually hate the person, but they hate what those people are doing. So, it's understandable that in this situation, somebody can say, "Oh, I hate those with divided loyalties." But suppose they did not have divided loyalties, would he hate them? No. So, obviously, what is hating is divided loyalties. But what does divided loyalties mean, biblically? Divided loyalties is when we, as believers, have our hearts split between the Lord and worldly things, and don't seem to be prioritising what is more important. As Christians, we look at God as the most important, above all. We should revere God; we should look at God with respect and reverence; we should look at Him as the Giver of our lives, the source of our provision; we should look at Him as our Saviour, as the One who shows us the way forward, as our Hope. He is indeed the One who gives us life, the One who created us. So, as believers, servants of the Lord, God is the priority; He's the number one priority. God should always be the One we are looking to and do His will. His will should be above all, and His words should be above all. When people now then begin to lose that, and they have something in their lives they have prioritised, it could be their jobs, their hobbies, or what they love to the point that those things have taken the number one place in their hearts, and God has become less and less in their hearts while what they want has become immense in their lives to the point that God has become very small to them. Those are people with divided loyalties who try to follow both the Lord God and the world, serving two masters: the Lord Jesus and satan, the love for God and money, doing God's will one day and their own will the next. Double-mindedness is a huge sin, leading many to spiritual death. For example, in the Holy Bible, the story of Lot and his wife. When the angel of the Lord told them to walk ahead, to depart from Sodom, and not look back, of course, while Lot and his daughters obeyed, his wife did not. She found it hard to let go of something she was used to. In that situation, her priorities were the things of the world. She was in love with the world. Sodom was the world, giving her the things of the world. And she found it so hard to leave those things behind that she had to mourn over them and look back. By doing so, she became a pillar of salt. She was a person with divided loyalties. But did her husband Lot hate her? No. Did he hate the fact that she did not listen? Yes. Did he hate her disobedience, which took her away from them all? Yes. The other example is Matthew 19:16-21, And the rich man asked the Lord, "What shall I do to have eternal life?" And the Lord went through it with him and explained it to him. And the man responded, "Yes, I have obeyed all the law." The Lord Jesus told Him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” And the man was disappointed. That was not what he wanted to hear, and he walked away all sad. At that moment, he understood that he had greater priorities. He was a man with divided loyalties. His loyalty was not to God nor to the Son of God. His priority was not God, not the Lord Jesus, but his wealth, his possessions, the things he had. Those things were more important to him than God. So, he was a man with divided loyalties. In Matthew 6:24, the Lord Jesus says that we should not serve two masters; we will love one more than the other. If the other master in our lives is money, and then we still want God in our lives as well, that means we are believers with divided loyalties. We want Christ; at the same time, we also want money. And who is behind all those things? Some want Christ, and still, they're taking things that come from the devil. They may not even be aware that they're serving the devil, but that is what it is. They can take things from the devil without even realising, and it still stands that they are serving two masters. We cannot take from God and also take from the enemy of God, satan and demons, we cannot. We must focus on the One who is the priority. Our priority does not mean that we should serve the Lord and give a lot to God, and also give a little part of ourselves to the devil. No. That is still like not really knowing what we want; that is still like not really understanding that God should be everything. It seems like those people with divided loyalties were preventing this servant of the Lord from focusing on the Lord, but he had taken the decision and said to God, "I hate those with divided loyalties, but I love Your instructions." Meaning, since he loves the Lord's instructions, he would focus on them and not associate with those with divided loyalties who so often cause even some genuine believers to stumble. Many humans have used the word 'hate' without actually hating. The word 'hate' has become the language of some people, but that does not really mean they are indeed hating that person; they're just hating their doings, which are opposing God. And since we are speaking about God here, it seems like those with divided loyalties believe in the Lord, but are not remaining faithful to the Lord. They're still having other priorities that are way on the opposite side of the Lord, and they're also imposing on this servant of the Lord, badly influencing him, but in the midst of such things, he's focusing on remaining truthful to the teachings of the Lord and in obedience to the Lord. So he says to the Lord, "I hate those with divided loyalties, but I love Your instructions." When we look at people with divided loyalties, there is something about them upsetting us. What they're doing is sinful, and sin upsets those who no longer embrace sin. Sinful ways upset those who no longer practice sin. So he looks at those people and just sees all those things they're doing, which is completely unfair on God. So, there's nothing to like about that. However, when He looks at the instructions of the Lord, he's happy because there is nothing evil in God's instructions; there's nothing that makes us sick from meditating on the words of God. Everything about the ways of the Lord is beautiful, is righteous, is just. And those who have become godly love the ways of the Lord because they bring joy to them, true hope and true fulfilment to them. It is their treasure; they're happy when reading those words. So, we have two different ways here: We look at the life of those with divided loyalties and the life of those who don't have divided loyalties. So the godly don't have divided loyalties because they're focusing on the Lord, taking things from the Lord, and waiting for the Lord to guide them and are seeking to do the Lord's will, while those with divided loyalties believe in God also, but still they have their own ways; they still conform to the pattern of the world, and still associate with those who are having other things that the Lord disapproves of just because they want to feel like they have some friends, and for these reasons, they don't even know who the're serving anymore. But we must understand that our own ways are the enemies of the Lord's ways. Our own ways prevent us from getting close to God. Our own ways are the second-biggest obstacle, keeping us from feeling God's great presence, from seeing God who is right there. Our own ways build up a wall, so huge before our eyes, that prevents us from seeing God. Our own ways make us deaf, preventing us from hearing what the Lord is saying. Our own ways place a veil over our eyes, keeping us spiritually blind and unable to see what is so obvious. Our own ways harden our hearts, because though we call them our own ways, they are not really just our own ways; if we are not following God's ways, we're following the devil's ways, or the mixture of both, which is still wrong and deadly in the eyes of the Lord God. This is why the godly who have understood this seek to live for the Lord Jesus Christ, do His Father's will, remain faithful to His teachings, because only obedience to the Lord and His ways can replace our ways and save us from the devil's schemes. Because we are now godly and focusing on God, we clash with those who still have divided loyalties; their ways are still worldly; their ways are still demonic. They're listening to demons even without realising. So, "You are my refuge and my shield," he said to the Lord. "Your word is my source of hope." Yes, because he has understood that there's something beautiful about the words of God; they are Good News; protection; they bring Hope; they reveal to us the Lord Jesus who gives us eternal life. And that Hope is beautiful, is fulfilling; that Hope is Life. And this man is living in the Lord, living for the Lord, and he can no longer love the ways of the hypocrites; they have one foot in God's Kingdom and another in the world. They have not yet put both feet in God's Kingdom. So, when he's saying, "Get out of my life, you evil-minded people, for I intend to obey the commands of my God," this seems like he has confronted those people and spoken those words in their faces. And he's calling them evil-minded people, so he knows those people; he has seen their ways, and their ways oppose God. And it seems like they have imposed on him and said, 'Come, be with us.' They might have found his ways of being devoted to the Lord strange to them, and they might have tried to talk him out of it. They might have wanted him to toss aside the Lord's regulations for their own pleasure. Then he said to them, "Get out of my life, you evil-minded people, for I intend to obey the commands of my God." Yes, he's actually saying to them, 'I've found something far greater than what you're going for. I've found something that is treasure to me. I've found something that is good. I've found life. I've found the source of happiness, the source of true fulfilment, and you want me to let go of that? No. I intend to obey the commands of my God.' At least, this is how I have responded to some people who have so often treated me as if it is a sin to live for Christ, to turn from my ways and the pattern of the world, and live in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. So those are the people with divided loyalties; once they know what is good, that Christ is their Lord and Saviour, that He died on the Cross for them, but then they turn from that, or just remain those with divided loyalties by compromising His teachings, conforming to the world's pattern. You have not really chosen Christ if you're still compromising His teachings and refusing to do His Father's will. You have not really become His child if you still find pleasure in the things that don't belong to Him. And this servant of the Lord knows that it's not going to be easy, so he’s begging the Lord, "Lord, sustain me as You promised that I may live." He is dependent on God; he knows very well that he depends on God. He knows that if God did not sustain him, he would not live. That goes for me, too. I'm so dependent on God. I know that without Him I cannot live. We, humans, depend on God. Without Him, we cannot live, even those who are in the darkness. Some may boast they don't need God, but the truth is they need God more than they think. The reason why they are in the darkness in the first place is that they lack the presence of God. They are not living, they are dying, and the only Resurrector is Christ, who resurrects us all from spiritual death. Because they convinced themselves they did not need God, they are in the darkness, dying spiritually, and only the Lord Jesus can save them from darkness, if they let Him, or they're lost forever. "Yes, sustain me, as You promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. 117 Sustain me, and I will be rescued; then I will meditate continually on Your decrees." We go through the same thing in all generations, and these words are clear, and this is the truth. We depend on the Lord God. "You have rejected all who stray from Your decrees. They are only fooling themselves." Yes, those are the people. We are looking around us today; we're seeing lots of lukewarm Christians; they have given their lives to Christ, yet they have not really given their lives to Christ. They are remaining lukewarm Christians after years of acknowledging that Christ is the Lord and Saviour, but they're still in the same place; some of them believe that they are saved. These people with divided loyalties, whom the Lord's servant in Psalm 119 is referring to, are doing the same things the lukewarm Christians and all hypocrites and false teachers do today, disobeying the Lord Jesus, yet some think they're saved. This servant of the Lord is looking at them and hearing them fooling themselves by saying that they are saved. It is the truth and the fact that God rejects all who stray from His decrees. If we don't obey the Commandments of God, we are killing ourselves. Disobedience to God means the rejection of God, whether you're still calling yourself a believer or not. God won't be there when we are disobeying and rejecting Him. So, He will turn His face away. You plead to these people, who are so comfortably living in their ways and thinking that they are saved, you love them, you point to them the truth, but many dismiss it. Most of them truly believe that they're loving Christ, and some don't know what's happening. But it still stands that whether you know what is happening or not, if you're guilty, you're guilty. Not knowing what is happening does not make you innocent if you are living in sin. And the Lord Jesus said in Revelation 3:15-16, 15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" This is the truth. So while you may believe that you're still a child of God, that God is saying that He will spit you out of His mouth. - This is if you remain that way until you die in your unrepented sins. - And I hear many people say, "Well, they're still children of God." But the truth is, they are not children of God, if they remain in that state and keep practising sin and disobeying the Lord Jesus and Father God Almighty, they are the creation of God, just like anyone who doesn't believe or turn from their wrong ways. If they are indeed the children of God, will God spit His children out of His mouth? Does a Good Father spit His children out of His mouth? No. So please, listen to the words of God. Open your eyes and your hearts to the truth, and let that truth set you free. It is written, you're not going to change the ways of the Lord, what the Lord has said. God's words don't return void. What He says will be so. And when He’s saying that He will spit you out of His mouth, He's not doing it now; He's leaving you time for you to see; He's speaking like this so you don't live in a way that will lead you to hell. Then, He will have no choice but to do exactly what He said He will do. He loves you, and that's why He's telling you now, so that you can amend your ways. But don't live as if you have all the time in the world, for we can never know when our last day on this earth will be, and if anyone dies in their sins, it is too late for them. This servant of the Lord said, "You skim off the wicked of the earth like scum; no wonder I love to obey Your laws! 120 I tremble in fear of You; I stand in awe of Your regulations." Of course, we're looking around us, and the wicked are still prospering. So this is again another prophecy that is coming in the midst of this to tell us that the Lord will cleanse the earth from all the wicked. The wicked are considered useless, and of no value in God's Kingdom, and so, the Lord Jesus comes again to separate them from the godly, to separate the goats from the sheep, to remove every single thing that is wicked and sin. We're still seeing the wicked prospering now, but the time is coming when it will no longer be that way; it will be according to the Lord's ways. And the Lord has given you a lifetime to warn you about this, to plead with you, to let Him save you, to let Him heal you, for He has all the healing; He has all you need. What you need, God can give you. Yes, this servant of the Lord is blessed; he has seen the truth; he has allowed himself to see. He has heard of the truth and has embraced it; he knows the truth, and he's not turning from that truth, like many do, and he's determined to live in that truth; he's determined to live in the Lord, to meditate on the Lord's decrees, because that is the source of life. He says, "No wonder I love to obey Your laws! 120 I tremble in fear of You; I stand in awe of Your regulations." We must understand that trembling in fear of God is not a bad thing; it's a beautiful thing. God is not scary; God is not a frightening Being; He is a loving Being. He does not do the job of the gangster, or the job of satan on you; He does not force you. But He's giving you a lifetime to come to realise, yourself, that you must choose what is good and work hard to maintain it. And this person has done that, and so have I. And you should do it, too. Once you have that truth, don't turn from it. Once you have God, and you know Him and His beauty, you know who He is; don't turn away from Him. He is not a spare wheel; He's not your spare wheel; it's either Him alone as the wheel you need, or you don't know Him nor have Him. So, I pray this sermon will help you. And I thank God for it, for He loves you so much to give me such inspiring sermons every day. He's doing it all for you. The truth is there to fix us, not to damage us. So, please listen to these words, and you will never regret it. The Lord is beautiful, perfect and awesome, gracious forever, faithful; He's loving and caring, and no one loves more than He does. In fact, without Him, no one can truly love. Without Him, no one can truly experience divine love; no one. And if you have Him, hold on tight to Him, for if you don't have Him, you're lost forever. But He's there, willing to be in your life, but you must let Him, for He does not impose. He knocks on your door, and only when you open, He comes in. But if you do not open it, He does not break it open; He will walk away. Don't miss that opportunity to dine with the only Saviour, to dine with the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. May the Lord Jesus' peace be with you as you choose wisely. Thank You, Lord Jesus, thank You, Holy Father, for this sermon. Thank You for Your provision. Lord, Your will be done in every area of our lives. Doing Your will has become my heart's desire, Lord, and I pray that many will feel that way, too. So thank, Lord, that You are our Father. Oh, let Your great presence be with us always, Lord. Thank You so much for Your love, Your peace and joy, and true fulfilment. Thank You for You, God. Please hear my prayer in the name of Your Son Jesus, Amen. "Our own ways build up a wall so huge that it prevents us from seeing God. We have one foot in His Kingdom and another in the world, not realizing that a heart divided is a heart at risk." "God is not a frightening Being; He is a loving Being. He knocks on your door, and only when you open, He comes in. But He will not break it open. My prayer is that you choose wisely, while there is still time, to make Him your everything." Elise Beatrice