Breaking The Spirit of Mamon

Good morning and welcome to Living Faith Church. I am so excited to be able to worship Jesus Christ with you on this amazing Sunday. If we have never met before, my name is Aaron. My wife Stella and I are honored to be able to serve on the Pastoral team at LFC. Today we are continuing this series we began a few weeks ago called Walking In Favor. And, can I tell you, truly my heart in this series is exactly that; I want you to walk in the favor of God.

Isn’t it interesting how often we connect favor with stuff? Do you know how many times I hear people comment on how blessed they are after they get something new? Look at my new car; Aren’t I blessed? In early 2010 I I got my first ever Macbook Pro. If you don’t know, this is a laptop made by Apple - the inventor of the iPhone. Now, all my cool youth pastor buddies had iPhones and Macbooks, while I was over here rockin’ the Dell. I wanted so bad to fit in to their cool pastor vibe that I actually had an Apple sticker covering up my Dell logo. So, in 2010 when I got my first Macbook Pro, I really felt like I arrived- like I fit in, like I belonged. The problem is, it didn’t take me long to figure out, this device didn’t make me a new person, give me a new personality. It didn’t pay my entry fee into some social club, or give me a status upgrade. No! I was the same person I had always been but with a fancy new computer. In other words, I was living with the same amount of favor after I got the fancy computer as before! Think about this. Why don’t we count our blessings during our seasons of suffering? Some of you think I’m crazy right? Look at Pauls words:

Philippians 1:29 NASB95

29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

See, there is a very real enemy roaming around the world infecting the minds of all people, Christians alike. This enemy wants you to believe that money, wealth and possessions are how we measure Gods favor! Today we are talking about breaking the spirit of mammon. Mammon is a word used in scripture four times. Jesus used the word three times in Luke 16 and then it’s repeated in Matthew, where Matthew shares the same sermon as in Luke. So, three times in Luke and repeated once in Matthew 6. Today we are going to look at Luke 16.

Luke 16:9–13 NKJV

9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. 10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? 13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

This is the only place I know of in the Bible where Jesus is this emphatic about how we serve God. Look at verse 13:

Luke 16:13 NKJV

13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Up further we read:

No servant, (No one, no person) can serve two masters… Luke 16:13

Matthew 6, the parallel passage says, “No one”, not anyone, not a single person can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon. Ok, since the Bible is so emphatic about the fact that we cannot serve God and mammon, I think it is due diligence for us to dig in a bit and find out what mammon is. And so we’re going to start today with point number one…

WHAT IS MAMMON?

Most people when they read that passage translate mammon as money. But I want to show you that mammon is much more than money. Mammon is an Aramaic word that means riches. But the word mammon comes from the Syrian god of riches. I don’t believe that Jesus was just speaking of riches, I think He was speaking of a false god that they knew well. The Syrians had a false god named Mammon and it was the god of riches. And look at this, the god Mammon came from Babylon. Many don’t understand where Babylon came from. But just look at the root and it becomes clear, Babel. Babylon came out of the tower of Babel. Babel means confusion and when you add on the suffix “on”, that suffix means planted in or sown in. Babylon means sown in confusion. This makes sense when we look at the history of Babel. Babel was built on the belief that if they worked hard enough, with their resources they could get to heaven. Babel is a spirit that contrasts itself with the Spirit of God. And this is what the spirit of mammon is, it is an arrogant, self-sufficient spirit that believes; I don’t need God, I am sufficient on my own, it is a Spirit that replaces God. And look at what Jesus said,

Luke 16:13 NKJV

13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

The spirit of mammon is looking for servants. It’s looking to rule in your life. It wants you to look to it instead of God. And many of us grew up looking to mammon and we didn’t even know it. And Jesus said:

Luke 16:13 NKJV

13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Marvin Richardson Vincent in his book Word Studies in the New Testament says this. (the phrase) Hold to (ἀνθέξεται). The preposition ἀντί, against, indicates holding to the one master as against the other. (as if these two are at war with each other). He who is for God must be against Mammon[1]

When we look at the Greek word Hold To, (andecho) The word hold could be translated as Loyal. You will be loyal to cleave to, or devoted to one and despise the other.

Too many Christians have bought into the false teaching that says, God wants to make everyone rich. If you give here, you will get over there. We call it the Prosperity Gospel. The danger with this teaching is that it breeds selfishness and greed into your life rather than outing it out of your life. It’s birthed in the Spirit of mammon; it is a mammon message. The problem with the mammon message is that when something breaks or goes wrong in your life, you become angry with God because you are loyal to mammon. Jesus said if you are loyal to Mammon, you will despise God, mammon wants to take God’s place. Mammon promises us everything that only God can give us. Look at this: mammon promises us Identity, security significance, happiness, joy, all these things only God can give us. Mammon can never deliver on its promise.

I’ll tell you something you probably have not realized, mammon is the spirit of the Anti- Christ, I’ll show you this by a verse some of you may have read before in Revelation 13.

Revelation 13:16–17 NKJV

16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

The Anti-Christ does not rule by threat of nuclear war, but rather, it rules by threat of not being able to buy and sell. If you don’t bow to me, if you don't take the mark of the beast you won’t be able to provide for your family. Mammon is trying to get you to bow to mammon, worship mammon, and Jesus is saying here “NO”, I am the only one who can provide all that you need.

Mammon would say, if you had more money, people would listen to you. If you had a better home, better clothes, lost weight, or had more muscle, people would follow you. If you had more money your marriage would be better. Listen to this one, if you had more money, you could help more people. Listen to me loud and clear. Money doesn’t help people, God helps people. Do you see the contrast? Let me just make this clear. We’ve all had this thinking once or twice. I either need God to come through, or someone to give us some money. God, I either need you… or, if someone gives me money, then God… What is the natural conclusion? I don’t need God anymore because I’ve got money.

Is Money Evil?

So, a question that often follows this thought is this. Is money evil? This is a real question because Jesus used the term “unrighteous mammon”. Let me remind you, mammon is a spirit. See, if it wasn’t a spirit then it wouldn’t talk to you. So often, when we try to give, we hear voices. “If you give that much, then you won’t be able to pay the cell phone bill”, “I know God is my provider, but what if He doesn’t provide?” So, money is not evil, it’s neutral. You can do good with money or evil. But some say, well the Bible says money is the root of all evil. That is not what the Bible says at all. Listen:

1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

All money has a spirit on it, it either has the spirit of mammon on it, or it has the spirit of God on it. It all has a spirit. Every dollar in your bank account has a spirit on it. The only way you can get the spirit of God on your money is by giving the First 10% to God’s House and He will redeem the rest of it from the curse of this world, which is the spirit of mammon.

What Should I Do With Money?

Luke 16:9 NKJV

9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.

Now, for the longest time, I completely misunderstood Luke 16:9, because I thought that the “mammon of unrighteousness” was just money. But look at what It says,

“Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness”.

He says, Take this unclean, unredeemed, mammon and redeem it, put a new spirit on it. Redeem the unclean with the sacrifice of the clean. How? By giving the first 10% into the kingdom of God, serve the kingdom of God with it, and when you do, people will get saved, and they will become your friends. Then it says, listen:

Luke 16:9 NKJV

9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.

The word fail means pass away, die. He’s saying, that when you die, when you fail, there will be a host of people who got saved because of the money that you gave into the kingdom. You could say, there were 10 of us who gave $50 a month to support Marc and Ceitici in Bulgaria, or Dario Kappin in Bosnia. And when you step into Heaven, when your life is over you will be greeted by all the souls who came to know Jesus because of their work preaching the gospel, but that was made possible because you gave! God is the only one who can take unrighteous mammon and turn it into souls! Be a good steward of what you have and lead people to Jesus!

True Riches

Now listen, I’ve heard people say this. Aaron, I have too little to be concerned with these ideas. If you are thinking that way this morning, I don’t have enough money to listen to what Jesus says, then you will never have enough. Because listen:

Luke 16:10 NASB95

10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

Look at what Jesus says next:

Luke 16:11 NASB95

11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?

What are true riches? True riches are people. Look around the room… the people you see are the only thing that is going to last. Everything else is going to burn. Heaven is being populated, and hell is being plundered by our tithes. This is why I get so excited about teaching this commandment from the Lord. I have talked to many pastors who fear teaching on tithing to their church. They are afraid people are going to get mad and leave. First, I’m not the editor of Gods word, just a teacher of it. But let me tell you. I get excited to teach this because, every time we teach this series we have an increase in people giving their lives to Jesus. Did you know we have had 33 salvations just in the month of June? Do you know why? Because when learn to be faithful with your finances, God rewards you with the “true riches”.

I believe that honestly, our moment of Generosity is one of the most exciting times in our services because we know that only God and God alone can take the money you give in that offering basket, give online or mail in, and turn it into more souls to populate heaven!

Salvation Response

Now, over the last 30 minutes, we’ve been talking about worship. I know it’s centered around finances. But the heart of this teaching is this, what God are you worshipping? For some of us, you may not have realized this until today, but you are worshipping Mammon by allowing this spirit to direct your financial habits. And I want us to take a moment alone with God for repentance. If this message has spoken to you, maybe convicted you; don’t let guilt set in, but rather repent, ask for God’s forgiveness, and make a commitment to turn away from this and put your trust, your obedience, your faith in God. God is calling your heart right now.

Isaiah 45:22 NASB95

22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

Romans 10:9 NASB95

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Maybe you do not have a personal relationship with God; maybe you are still carrying the anxiety, guilt, and pressure that sin induces in your life. Maybe you are stressed out by trying to navigate life all on your own. Can I assure you; that today all of that can end, and you can walk out of this room with hope in your heart? If you are putting your faith in Jesus this morning I want to pray with you - Simply raise your hands right now so I know who I am praying for.

“Heavenly Father, I trust You to save me through Your Son, Jesus. Forgive me for all of my sins. Make me brand new. Because You died for me, I want to live for You. Fill me with Your Spirit, so I can follow You. Jesus, You’re now my Lord and the Savior of my life. Take my life. It is Yours. In Jesus’ name, I pray.”

[1]Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 1 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 47.