Spirit of Mammon—Sparrow Faith 2-1-09
Spirit of Mammon—Sparrow Faith
2-1-09
This week:
· Amazing disappointments—Mill closures
· Hope—Pontoon situation
· Feel like roller coaster
Big picture—same thing
· National scene
· International
· Unprecedented unknowns
Many of us facing realities—personally
· People we know
· Unknown
We’ve talked about season there is shaking
· We take great comfort in
· The Lord has HIS way in the whirl wind and in the storm
o He has a WAY for us in the STORM
Holy Spirit wanting to release Creativity in this place
I believe Lord has creativity—watch for it
· Throughout word—examples
o Don’t know how it will all go
o Where the ups/downs will land
o But I know the Lord is in the midst of the storm
o He will make a way for us—watch for his CREATIVE miracles
· Whenever provision—miracles—THANKSgiving!
· Praise Him—
· Give TESTIMONY—fight with it
o Community—Pontoon—KIA
o Prayer Walks—Port
Creatively: Community—Corporately—Individually
Adjustment—Alignment—Advancement
So how are we to walk in a time like this?
· As Believers what is our strategy?
We’re doing a lot of things at the River to address what’s happening
Prayer
· 1st Foundation of prayer
· Spiritual aspect to season
o Whether battle nationally
o Local
Strengthening prayer
· 7 days of prayer and fasting
· Looking at some other ways
· Season when we need to rise in faith/battle for one another
o Targeting jobs
Because of financial shaking
· Reminds us we need to make sure we’re operating in our finances in God’s way
o Ways of wisdom
How many as shaking—see places in own life?
Want to operate in OPPOSITE Spirit
· Define
Seminars
· Explain both—define ‘why’
Also explore some other practical ways we can serve our community to improve/increase
· Food
· Career
Hunger for the answers in the this time
· We have a great opportunity as church to meet needs
What I want to do today. . .
Believe God has some ‘compass words’ for us in this season
· Just like Adjustment/Alignment/Advancement examples
· Going to share foundational nugget—Craig Hill
o Key for season because God wants to ARM you for the season of financial turmoil we are in
Prayer
God cares about needing a job
· God cares about your financial needs—your Father sees the need
· And wants to meet us in this hour
Bible has lots to say about finances
· Bible has tremendous amount to say about it
· NT: 215 verses on Faith; 218 on salvation; 2084 verses on money and finances
Why so many verses?
· Was Jesus a money grubber?
· Jesus came for mone??
· No—he wasn’t after money—he was after people’s HEARTS
· He’s not interested in your money—but interested in your heart
· Why so many verses
Matt 6:21
· Treasure—heart
· Jesus found a lot of people carry an awful lot of treasure in their money
o So if He could touch their money
o He could touch their hearts
· Jesus isn’t after money—but after touching your hearts
· Jesus is after touching what’s in people’s hearts
· After touching their hearts
· What’s in people hearts—capture their hearts
· 16 of Jesus’ 38 parables about money and finance
· When God talks about finances—money
o He cares about your need
o What matters most is your heart
Matt 6:24
· Mammon
· What is mammon?
· One translation—‘money’
· I heard most of life—mammon means money
Jesus sets these two things as opposites
· God and Mammon
· If you do have something do to with Mammon you are not serving God
If Mammon means money—then the logical conclusion—MONEY is anti-God
· Logical conclusion: you should have nothing to do with money
Logical conclusion
· I shouldn’t have any—Monks—vow of poverty
· Logical conclusion—money is evil
Mammon can’t mean money
· What is it? Some say greed—Focus on money
Interesting thing
· Earl Pitts—YWAM—Ron Smith—School of Biblical Studies—Mammon—where does it come from
· Origin of the word: name of a Phillistine god
· Worshipped at the time of Jesus
· Dagon—Ashterah—Mammon
· God of prosperity
When Jesus said that—He wasn’t talking about money
· He was talking about spiritual entity
· Define every idolatrous gods—demonic principalities
· Principalities demanded worship from the people
· Spirit of Mammon—demanded worship
How many thing that spirit might be operating today??
· Impact thinking—emotions?
When Jesus said—can’t worship God and mammon
· Both demanding worship
· Both demanding allegiance of your heart
Issue: conflict of allegiance
· To God Or Mammon—It is your MASTER
Greek: to serve—be in the EMPLOY of
· God
· Or mammon
Interesting
· Money is a neutral
· No power—No authority
· Impotent
· Simply a receptacle of goods and services
· Nothing that money can accomplish
Where is the real power?
· God
· Mammon
Spirit of MAMMON—SCHEME OF ENEMY—wants your HEART
How does that work?
· If showed up—said bow down to me—how many would do it
· Not many
So What Does Spirit Of Mammon Do In Our Lives?
1. Hide behinds the POWERLESS (Impotent) entity—money
· Primary influence
· Causes people to give money great value in people’s hearts
· It says, ‘if you just could get more money—all the problems of your life would be solved’
· If you had more of this—your life will be okay
· Know that people who came to seminar who came to find out how to get enough money
· Because if you have—your life will be okay
2. Spirit of Mammon says—the ANSWER to life—is Money
· If you have enough—your life will be okay
· Your problem is you don’t have money
o Wealthy People I’ve Known
· Spirit of Mammon tries to Convince people money is the ANSWER
I want to give great value/importance to money
· Goal of life—Lord I’m here to serve you
· Lord has purpose for our lives—Jesus has Destiny
3. Tries to get you to WORSHIP Money
· Deception of spirit of Mammon: Get people to LOVE money
What you value—you worship
· Spirit of mammon gets you to LOVE money
· So you WORSHIP it
Until you recognize about how impotent money really is
· Your heart will never be free from its pursuit
4. Wants to fill hearts of people with fear of not having enough money
· Seduces: I’m the answer
o You’ll never have enough of me—
o Going to lose house
· Car
· Filled with fear of not having enough money
· Slaves to fear
o I’ll never have enough
o Someone will take it from me
Most people’s perception—reason you work is for money
· Who controls life?
· Work for money—as opposed to working for God
· All that we do we do as unto the LORD
· Who’s our employer—God
· But spirit of mammon convinces us—you need to pursue money
God calling you to go China
· How can I get the money?
· What governs it?
· Spirit of mammon
· Through money
· Which is your master
· And you are its servant
Suppose we have an offering
· Wallet—and pray to wallet check/book
· Oh dear bank account—going to determine what they’re going to give by what’s in that thing
· Are they interacting with the Living God?
· No they are an atheist in that situation
As opposed to relating to God
· Lord what do you say?
Instead pray to check book—without realizing—governed by spirit of mammon
· Causes us to invert master/slave relationship
Invert relationship
· Suppose doing an offering
· How many are in financial need?
· How many in need—raise hands
· Mark 4—sowing the seed parable
· If you sow—you’ll receive
What is the goal here?
· Money
· What is the means
· What are the means
· Going to use God to get money
· Who’s the slave—we use God to get the money
· Who in reality is directing that—mammon
· Money is not the goal
· God is the Goal
· Money is a means to an end
Money is not the master
· Money is the servant
o God wants to use money in our lives to serve His purposes for us
o God has a purpose for you
o God wants to use money to fulfill that purpose
· Money is what I press into service to accomplish the God’s purpose
If God is your source
· Than Money will be your servant to accomplish God’s purpose in this life
If Mammon is your source
· God will not be your servant to get your money
· Because money is not the goal
· Money is not the end
See how subtle that is?
· Tricky thing
· Enemy uses spirit of mammon even in church to get people to believe MONEY is the answer
God doesn’t need money to meet the needs
· God can give you a car
· House
· Airline tickets
How Does God want to bring provision in Your Life?
Relationship with God is the answer
· Money is simply a servant to accomplish God’s purposes
· Accomplish God’s goals
Whenever you are in need
· Of provision
I believe in law of sowing and reaping
· Give shall be given—
· Want to Break Poverty Spirit??? GENEROSTIY!!!!
Craig Hill brought out something I had never seen before: Misunderstanding of sowing/reaping
For foundational needs—Craig teaches comes not from sowing/reaping
· But from Father’s Heart of Love for you
· Describes this as ‘Sparrow Faith’
Matt 6:25
· Do not worry about life
What do Christians spend a lot of time doing
· Worrying about our lives
· Jesus said—you weren’t meant to do that
· What is worrying about your life indicative of?
o Worry means I’ve given my heart over to spirit of Mammon
o Steve Fry: SLIDE—Worry about tomorrow
Examples of provision
· Sparrows
· Picture of provision is going to come to you
· Don’t sow or reap nor gather into barns
· Are you not of more value than they?
Provision comes to you not because you sow and reap
· Not because you’ve gathered and held on to what came
· Provision comes to you for one reason only
· My Father Loves You
I believe everything in the realm of darkness
· Tries to throw everything in our relationship with God back on works
· That concepts of sowing and reaping—God’s going to meet my needs
· If I don’t—God won’t meet my needs
· That ties God’s provision to my works
· That’s anti-gospel
· Jesus—said—this provision isn’t coming to you by God’s grace
· According to His Love
· Faith rises up in your hearts towards as God as your source
If you just heard this session
· Think I don’t believe in sowing and reaping
· I do believe in sowing and reaping
Sowing and reaping is not related to God meeting your needs
· Not out of works
· Father in Heaven—my God is going to meet your needs
What did you have to do to get parents to feed you
· Clothe you
· For most of us—food appeared—clothes appeared every day
· Parents carried that burden
· Sparrow Faith
o Chase KNOWS
I believe God saying
· AS I’m leading you through the storm
· I want to BREAK Spirit of Mammon off you
· RELEASE my Sparrow Faith in you!!!!
Any see sparrows have anxiety attacks?
· At rest—why?
· They have a revelation—believe the Father loves them—going to take care of them
I’m going to die
· It’s not going to work
· That is a spirit of Mammon
· Spiritual force
· Entity that influences our thinking
· Grabs hold of people’s minds
Generational
· Parents were full of that kind of fear
· Depression parents—fear entered people hearts
· Fear comes right through our parents—into lives
· God’s purpose is for us to recognize HE is our source
Provision comes to you
· Because your Father in heaven loves you
· Provision that comes to you is a gift from God
God has delegated a channel through which that provision comes
· God has delegated that job to be the present channel
· Is that job the source? No it’s the Channel.
Most of us in our heart believe the channel is the source
· Job is not source—God is
· What new channel is God going to use for provision
Can have channel changes
· But the source remains the same
God wants to give you an UNDERSTANDING
· Where the Spirit of Mammon has ripped you off
· And a revelation of Sparrow Faith
· My Father in Heaven Loves me
· Because of that—He will provide for me
I know people are facing tough times
· Not in denial
· But God doesn’t want his children HARRASED by Spirit of Mammon
· He wants SPARROW FAITH to rise in our hearts
· Provide for us
· We need to align with His word.
Everything you have is a gift from God
· Revelation to know, God loves me.
Heb 13:5-6 Amplified Bible “Let your character or moral disposition be free from the love of money”
· Mammon tries to get us to love money
“Including greed avarice, lust and craving for earthly possessions . . . .
For God Himself said: I will not in any way fail you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down(relax My hold on you)! Assuredly not!” Amplified word
So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldy say the Lord is my Helper—I will not be seized with alarm (I will not fear or dread or be terrified). What can man do to me”
That is powerful!
Nor relax my hold on you—that’s God word for us tonight
· I’ve got a call—purpose—destiny for you
· My purpose on this call for you on the earth
· I want to provide for your provision
· Because I love you.
Many of you have life experience and you say—where was God
· God wants to show you exactly where He was
· Sometimes we allow past experiences of life to nullify God’s word in my life.
I don’t want you to translate the past in the future
· I want to tell you who I really am
· I want to show you my true intention for your life
I want you to reach out by faith—what I’m giving to you—by Grace
· Just want to give it to you—and for you to receive it.