Untitled Sermon

WHAT IS MAMMON?

A lot of people think Mammon is money. SUMMARYJesus did not throw words around, so it is significant that he used the word “mammon” at least four times in the New Testament. When he used it, he did not simply mean money; he deliberately used the word “mammon” to show us what happens when we become attached to money. But mammon’s influence does not just stop with wealth. If we are not vigilant, this spirit will extend to every area of our lives and convince us to trust it instead of God. It tries to motivate us to do more things for it than for God, with the goal of replacing God as the source of what we need. In the book of Exodus, this spirit convinced the people that they did not need God, and its strategy has not changed This evil spirit will deliberately lead us astray and abandon us, but God will always extend his mercy and grace when we need him.

A. Mammon is not money. Mammon is an Aramaic word which comes from a Syrian God of riches. Mammon is the spirit of deceitful riches that lies to us.

So Jesus is saying you cannot serve God and a man-made mammon god. And the way we know we are serving God is we give our Tithes to God. The first of our increase to God!He who is faithful in that which is least is also faithful in much, and he who is unjust in the least is also unjust in much

NKJVHe 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. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? “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.” Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.

Jesus’ parable, as well as the entire chapter, is about a steward who was unfaithful with his master’s goods because he was influenced by mammon. The original translation of mammon is “deceitful riches.” Money with the spirit of mammon on it becomes deceitful. Money is neither good nor bad; it takes on the spirit of who has it. How it is used depends on whether its owner is under the influence of God or mammon. Mammon refers to the desire to pursue wealth as a primary goal in life. The Bible says to seek God first, and everything else will be added

NKJVBut seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

The devil took Jesus up to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. He said to him, I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.

​ NKJVAgain, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Mammon tried to seduce Jesus; there is no reason to think it would not try the same trick with us. Whatever mammon offers us is deceitful. Everything from this spirit is designed to fool us into thinking that walking with it will end well, but mammon always leaves us in a pit. When Jesus entered Jericho, Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see him as he passed by. Jesus looked up and saw him, and said to Zacchaeus to come down quickly, because he had to stay at his house that day. Zacchaeus first felt the favor of God when Jesus looked up and greeted him. Zacchaeus had previously been under the spirit of mammon, but a meeting with Jesus freed him to become a giver. Jesus then told another parable to teach about the link between money and faithfulness

NKJVNow behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’ “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’ “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.

B. We must be careful not to unwittingly make mammon our god.

Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God

​ NKJVBe anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

We are told to be anxious for nothing. Being anxious about our unmet needs is a sign that we worship mammon. No one can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and be against the other. You cannot serve God and deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in

​ NIV“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

We must stop being perpetually uneasy, anxious, and worried. Aim at and strive for first of all his kingdom and righteousness, his way of doing and being right, and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. Do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble

NKJVBut seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

When we live in the present instead of the future, the Holy Spirit will give us the grace we need at the moment. We need not fear the future. Amen.