The Deception of Mammon

Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

In this passage, Jesus says you cannot serve God and mammon.

With such a stern proclamation, I believe it behooves us to understand who and what mammon is and the danger he presents.

According to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, mammon means money, riches, or worldly goods. As used by Jesus in our passage, it is the personification of riches as an evil spirit or deity.

The Holman Bible Dictionary continues by saying that mammon indicates the evil influence of money. Christ says that you cannot serve mammon and Him. Christ is saying that money, riches, and worldly goods are gods to many people.

Many people who claim to be Christians will give their soul to Jesus, but their banking account is off limits. I want you to know the Bible has much to say about money and the single-minded pursuit of it.

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Proverbs 22:7 “The rich ruleth over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.”

As I was preparing this message, I was struck by an awful truth. In the Bible, the pursuit of wealth does not just affect you; it also has a devastating affect on your family.

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Ephesians 6:4 “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Proverbs 1:8 “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother:”

As I studied for this message, the dreadfulness of Proverbs 22:6 hit me square in the face. In everything we do as parents, we are to teach our children the way they should go, and that includes finances too. Maybe, that is why we generational debt today.

Many times, we teach our children to go after wealth instead of going after the ways of the Lord and the effects have been devastating.

We are going to look at what greed and mammon does to families, and then we are going to look at the solution.

(1) The Greed of Achan. Joshua 7

Joshua 7:20–22 “And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.

So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.”

Everyone knows the story of Jericho and how the walls came crumbling down as Mrs. Hope has done such a marvelous job of teaching that to our children. The walls of Jericho crashed giving Israel a great victory. Before the decisive day of the battle, God had told Israel not to leave anyone alive, except for Rahab and her family, and He told Israel not to take any spoils individually for themselves.

I want to say there is much blame to go around, but I want to focus on the greed of Achan.

The night of the victory Achan slips out of the camp to go examine the ruins of Jericho. He knew what God had said, but he could not resist that shiny Babylonian garment, that 200 shekels of silver, and that wedge of gold.

Achan knew he was not to touch any of that stuff, but that was more money that Achan had ever seen. The pursuit and acquisition of that wealth meant more to him than what God said.

How do I know that is true? Because he hid the things he found under his tent. He was hiding them from Joshua and God.

You are just like Achan if you forsake what God’s Word says for the pursuit of mammon. There is a principle found in the Bible that will ring true throughout eternity.

Numbers 32:23 “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Your sins will find you out. You are going to reap what you sow. Achan might have thought that he got by with something, but God knew what Achan did. You cannot hide anything from God. It was Achan who was deceived. He was deceived by the wealth of what he discovered in the ruins of Jericho, but his sin found him out.

As always, in the pursuit of mammon, the entire camp of Israel suffered. Achan’s sin affected everyone in Israel.

The whole camp was affected just as this congregation is affected when you sin. The effects of sin are never just limited to the sinner. There is always collateral damage. That is why we are to guard the fellowship of this congregation. Sin can destroy a congregation, even sin by one person.

Joshua 7:4–5 “So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.”

Even worse than the congregation/camp suffering, Achan’s family paid dearly.

Joshua 7:24–25 “And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.

And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.”

Achan’s pursuit of wealth and his disobedience toward God’s Word caused Achan, his family, and the camp of Israel to pay a terrible price.

I am telling you, believe me or not. Your sin will find you out, and the pursuit of mammon at the expense of God’s Word will come back to bite you.

(2) The Greed of Gehazi. 2 Kings 4-6

Gehazi is a tragic example as to what the pursuit of mammon leads.

Gehazi was a servant of Elisha, and he saw firsthand the miracle-working power of God just as Achan did as the walls of Jericho came crumbling down.

Let me give you some examples of what Gehazi witnessed.

He witnessed the Shumanite woman’s dead child being brought back to life. (2 Kings 4:36-37).

He witnessed the healing of Naaman the leper (2 Kings 5:14).

Naaman was so thrilled to be healed that he offered a reward to Elisha, a financial blessing for healing him.

2 Kings 5:15–16 “And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.”

Elisha refused the reward, and I believe that should send a strong message to these jokers today who beg for seed money.

Elisha refused what Naaman was offering, but Gehazi could not resist. (2 Kings 5:20-23).

2 Kings 5:20–21 “But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?”

2 Kings 5:22–23 “And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him.”

Not only was Gehazi pursuing mammon, he lied in that pursuit. Gehazi’s greed had blinded him to God’s Word. Gehazi was about to discover that a person’s sin always finds him or her out. Gehazi’s greedy pursuit caught up to him.

2 Kings 5:25–26 “But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?”

2 Kings 5:27 “The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.”

Gehazi was cursed and so were all of his descendants. Gehazi should have kept his eyes on God’s Word instead of Naaman’s wealth because his sin affected more than just his life.

I could talk about the greed of Judas, the greed of Dives, the rich man, the greed of Ananias and Sapphira, but you get the picture. The pursuit of mammon instead of God’s Word leads to sin, and the pursuit usually drags others along for the ride, often with devastating effects.

(3) The Godly Solution.

A. Be single-minded. James 1:8.

James 1:8 “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

The solution to your problem if you are pursuing mammon today is to be single-minded.

James is saying that if your body, soul, and spirit are focused on multiple things, you are going to be unstable in everything, in all your ways. If your focus is on God, everything else will be stable, and you will have a clear picture as to what you need to do.

The 10 Commandments tells us that we need to be single-minded.

Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Before you sit there in your pew and say that you worship no other gods, let me tell you what this means. Anything that we place before God becomes in our life. Your children can be your god. Your spouse can be your god. Recreation can be your god, and mammon definitely can be your god.

Why? Because Jesus said you cannot serve two masters.

Let me tell all of you something about money and mammon that are still working, and I promise you this is true, and I wished I had put it to practice in my life 40 years ago.

If you put God first and not mammon, you will not only have more time, but you will have more money and less debt.

Why? Because if you are single-minded toward God then money, time, pleasure, and family will be put in their proper places, and you will serve God and be true to His Word.

B. Trust God’s Word.

Remember from earlier, Jesus is telling us that mammon is the personification of an evil deity. Mammon is the god of wealth, possessions, and riches, and Jesus said you cannot serve two masters, but you can trust in the MASTER.

I need to say something that I should have already said. Having money is not a sin. The pursuit of money at the expense of God is the sin.

Everything boils down to whether or not you believe God’s Word is true. If you really believe it to be true, you will put it to practice.

Philippians 4:6–7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:19 “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Do you believe God’s Word means what it says? That God is going to supply all your need according to riches in glory by Jesus Christ? If you do, why worry about money, and why do you waste your life, time and family pursuing mammon?

Did you know financial issues destroy as many marriages as infidelity does?

I guess you can say they go hand-in-hand. If you are more worried about money than you are about the needs of your spouse, you are being unfaithful to the marriage.

Husbands, If, however, you make Christ the Master of your life, you will love your wife as Christ loved the church, and wives, if Christ is your Master, you will submit to your husband’s God-given authority as Christ submitted to the will of the Father, and that is exactly what Ephesians 5 is talking about.

Ephesians 5:22–23 “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.”

Ephesians 5:24–25 “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

Ladies, placing yourself in submission is not being subservient. Placing yourself in submission as your husband’s equal means you are honoring and recognizing God’s Word and your husband’s God-given authority. The example was set by Jesus.

Husbands, if you place yourself in submission to Christ, you will love your wife as Christ loves the church to the point of giving your life for her, and you will realize that her submission to you does not give you the authority to be a slave-master.

Philippians 2:5–6 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”

Philippians 2:7 “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:”

I promise you, younger married couples, married life is not a bed of roses. There are going to be a lot of thorns along the way, and you can make it if you follow God’s prescription, and you can control your finances if you let Christ control you, but if you try to serve mammon and Christ, you are going to have some serious issues.

It really boils down to this.

If you are saved, you believed what the Bible says about salvation. If you believe what the Bible says about salvation, why can you not believe what the Bible says about finances and God supplying your every need?

Matthew 6:19–20 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

As we prepare to sing our invitation, I want you to examine your life. Only you know what place God holds in your life, but I would absolutely hate to see something happen to you and your family as happened to Achan and his family and Gehazi and his family.

If you truly believe in God and what God’s Word says, you can lay mammon at the cross this morning and never worry about him again.