A Powerful Prophetic Word: God And Mammon by Zac Poonen

It is interesting to see that even though Jesus referred to Satan as "the ruler of this world" (John 14:30). He never referred to Satan as the alternative master to God, whom people have the choice of serving. When Jesus spoke of two masters whom men could serve, He said that the two were God and Mammon (Luke 16:13). In Christendom, generally speaking, preachers have always urged people to choose between God and Satan. Jesus however urged people to choose between God and Mammon.

Satan is a master schemer. He knows that if people are told to choose between God and Satan, no one will choose Satan. But when the choice is between God and Mammon, Satan knows that even believers will find it difficult to make a decisive choice.

Satan knows that most Christians choose their jobs and their place of residence, etc., based on their passion for Mammon (property and money) rather than on any desire for the promotion of God's kingdom. Satan knows that all such believers are useless for God's purposes, irrespective of the amount of religious activity they engage in.

Satan also knows that most of the Christian work in the world is more dependent on Mammon (money and property) than on the power of the Holy Spirit. Satan knows that all such Christian work will not have any eternal value - even if the reports of such work appear impressive when presented attractively by "public relations experts" in colourful Christian magazines!!

We must not be ignorant of Satan's wiles. It is against Satan's wiles that we are told to stand firm, and not against his wrath (Eph.6:11). Satan's wrath has never hindered the work of God at any time. Persecution has only made the church of Jesus Christ flourish in every country and at all times. But Satan has often succeeded with his wiles, where he has failed to accomplish anything with his wrath (see Rev.12:11,12).

Satan is happy to be hidden out of sight, because he knows that he can deceive people better that way. He knows very well that when a believer is influenced by the love of mammon in his decisions, he is actually serving the prince of Mammon, even if he imagines that he is serving God!!

When a believer's attitude to Mammon is wrong, he will be wrong in every other area too - because he then becomes a part of this world system that our Lord came to destroy. Such a man is a traitor to the Lord's cause on earth, even though he may not realize it. He is actually working on Satan's side, without knowing it. This is the fundamental problem with many believers today. They have not understood Satan's schemes.

Before Jesus went to the cross, He told His disciples, "The prince of this world comes and he has no power over Me" (John 14:30 - Living). Mammon had no power over Jesus. And so Satan could find no foothold in Him and could not touch Him in any way. But Satan finds plenty of foothold through Mammon in the lives of most believers. Thus he is able to divert them from God's perfect plan for their lives.

Throughout the last 20 centuries, the greatest opposition for the Lord's servants has always come from "Christians" and so-called "believers" who are Biblical in all their doctrines except the doctrine of "the love of money"! It is not at all surprising that "believers" who worship Mammon oppose God's true prophets. Jesus Himself faced such opposition from the leaders of the Pharisees who had all their other doctrines right (Matt.23:3), but who loved and served Mammon (Luke 16:14).

Christians who pursue after Mammon have plenty of money to travel whenever they like, and wherever they like. They also have enough to buy whatever they like, whenever they like. Only lovers of Mammon can afford such expensive habits. But those who have an extravagant lifestyle can never be witnesses for the Lord in the midst of a suffering world.

It is dangerous to have money far beyond what we need. It was because Jonah had plenty of extra money that he could afford to buy a ticket to go to Tarshish - in plain disobedience to the Lord's command. How safe Jonah would have been from such a temptation, if he did not have any excess money available with him at that time.

It was to save His apostles from such temptations, that Jesus left them poor in the world. The Lord Who made Job, Abraham and David rich could easily have made His apostles rich too. But He didn't. Why? Because new-covenant apostles, unlike Old Testament saints, had to wage war against Satan. And when Satan came against them, it was essential that Satan should find "no love for Mammon in them"? Otherwise the Lord's purposes could never have been fulfilled through them.

What about you? When Satan comes against you, does he have power over you, because he finds the love of Mammon in you?

The battle against Satan is not fought on earth, but in "the heavenlies" (Eph.6:12). It is there that Satan's power has to be bound by us (Matt.18:18). Only those who are heavenly-minded can fight this battle. Those who love Mammon are earthly-minded and are useless in this battle. Satan knows that very well, even if believers don't.

In heaven, the saints walk on golden streets. Heaven has been prepared for those who have learnt to put gold under their feet even on earth. Our fasting and praying cannot accomplish God's purposes, if we love Mammon and are earthly-minded. It is only the prayer of "a righteous man" - one who has been freed from attachment to earthly things, like Elijah - whose prayers are effective before God (James 5:16,17). This is why God allows us at times, to lose large amounts of money - to deliver us from the love of Mammon and to make us effective for Him.

It will be very difficult for a disciple of Jesus, if he is totally honest and wholehearted, to become rich through his business in a world that is under the dominion of Satan. To become a wealthy man in such a world, one would have to follow Satan's principles in some area or the other, and disobey the principles of God's Word. The Bible clearly says,

"Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Tim.6:9). One who seeks to be "rich towards God" can never become "rich in this world" (Luke 12:21; 1 Tim.6:17).

This applies also to preachers who become rich through preaching the gospel and selling Christian books and tapes. Another gimmick these days, is to conduct tours to Israel ("the holy land"??). If a preacher can gather 10 people for a trip to Israel, the travel agent will give him one free ticket. All such preachers are worshipping "the golden calf" and are servants of Mammon, and not of the Lord Jesus Christ. [Someone asked me once if I had ever been to the holy land. I told him I was walking there every day!]

The "prosperity gospel" was invented in the latter half of the 20th century by Mammon-loving preachers who had to find some "Scriptural" explanation to justify their extravagant lifestyles and the immense amount of wealth that they had accumulated from the tithes and offerings of their "devotees". So they hunted up Old Testament promises that God had given to Israel and began to proclaim those promises as the unfailing mark of God's blessing today. And money-loving believers gladly lapped up this new gospel!

A secular journalist in the U.S.A., who heard of such a church where the "prosperity gospel" was being preached, wanted to find out if this teaching really worked. So he went to the church's parking lot and checked out the makes of the cars parked there. He found that the cars parked in the spots reserved for the "Pastor" and "Assistant Pastors" were expensive cars!! But most of the other cars were cheap ones! He concluded that the "prosperity gospel" did work - but only for those who lived off the tithes and offerings of the congregation!! The rest of the congregation remained in the same condition that they had always been in!

Even in poor countries like India, preachers are becoming rich, off the tithes and offerings of poor people, through this counterfeit gospel.

What must the Lord think of the Christian "church" and its leaders today, who have pursued after Mammon, become tolerant of sin, and thus made themselves powerless in the battle against Satan. The gates of Hell have prevailed against this "church". And that is the clearest proof that this "church" is not the church that our Lord is building - for the powers of darkness can never prevail against that church (Matt.16:18).

Whenever a genuine Holy-Spirit revival comes anywhere, it will be a revival that delivers believers from the love of Mammon. Only such a revival will drive the prince of Mammon out of the church.

Any other so-called "revival" is a counterfeit.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

FEATURED QUOTATION

"Water is useful to the ship and helps it to sail better to the haven, but let the water get into the ship, if it is not pumped out, it drowns the ship. So riches are useful and convenient for our passage. We sail more comfortably with them through the troubles of this world; but if the water gets into the ship, if love of riches gets into the heart, then we are drowned by them." - Thomas Watson

FEATURED SCRIPTURE

"For we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." - 1 Timothy 6:7-10, 17

I think what Art was trying to say and correct me if I am wrong Art, is that we do indeed need money. Its not money thats evil, its the love of money, the desire to be rich, that is where so many people lose it ( its especially complicated in America becuase of the " American dream.")

Its difficult for men who do not work in the traditional sense to make this argument I believe. For they rely on people who do work to support them and their families. How many of God's "ministers" who would claim they hate money but turn right round and beg for money? I love the apostle Pauls attitude to money, he, for the most part, was a tent-maker. If they were going to accuse him of preaching for money, even although it was not true, then he simply would not take peoples money for the sake of the gospel. Not too many Paul's nowadays. One more thing, you can make a case for shepherds to be supported, but there are thousands of people who have " ministries,' today whether online or elsewhere and are constantly asking for money, where is the Biblical support for that? ......brother Frank

Hi Koheleth, I agree that we do not need wealth, its just really hard to define. Where is the line drawn? Certainly not in Scripture. I have known wealthy people who could care less about money and give lots of it away, mostly to ministries. People are often born into wealthy families. I think if we are zeroing in on Scripture, we come to the conclusion that it is the desire for riches that get people into the most trouble. Now, that is very bad news for a country like America where their system is built on that very desire and it is considered a virtue. In fact, capitilism needs the fuel of greed to fire the engine of commerce. And of course most Christians in America are aligned with the political forces that represent capitilism, which in its essence is buying things we do not need with money that we do not have.

So, in order to walk in freedom and not in bondage to money , either to have it or not to have it, we have to care less about it knowing that our Father has promised to meet all our needs. Let it be held loosely in the hands like sand. There is the minefield of bondage on either side of this issue. There is on the one hand the prosperity gospel advocates, extreme right wing to put it in political parlance, then there is people who would take a vow of poverty on the other hand, the left wing if you like. And then of course there is everything in between including peddlers of the Gospel, hirelings, idle people. It is cerainly a mine-field, yet the Gospel itself frees people, it does not bring them into bondage. So when you hear people rant about how evil money is, or people who would claim God would have us all rich, you can ignore both of these purveyorys of bondage. Walk in a simple spirit, obey God and His word, work hard and live quietly. Bring honor to God in all that you do, this is freedom. Beware of those who get fixated on any subject and would bind people up, there is balance in all things........brother Frank

I wondered at first why this was titled "Powerful and Prophetic" but got that gentle reminder how this message will hit home when we'll need a 'mark' in order to buy and sell. The greatest test of our stand on 'money' that has ever been, I suppose.

I agree with much of what brother Zac is saying, but I think he stretches the point too far. The jonah example is just strange and there is nothing to suggest from the Scriptures that Jonah made this trip because he either had money or loved money. Zac says this..........

"Christians who pursue after Mammon have plenty of money to travel whenever they like, and wherever they like. They also have enough to buy whatever they like, whenever they like. Only lovers of Mammon can afford such expensive habits. But those who have an extravagant lifestyle can never be witnesses for the Lord in the midst of a suffering world."

Sadly I have seen this in many " ministers," who travel the world to go to conferences and such and much of the trip is sight-seeing to places that those who supported them could never see because they could not afford it. They have the latest lap-tops and cameras and so on, and if Zac is correct, then they could never be witnesses for the Lord in the midst of a suffering world. It is so much worse in these folks beacuse it is not even their own money they are abusing, and to make the whole thing even more despicable, they then turn around and condemn this very activity in others.

I berlieve that when the Lord says that you cannot serve two masters he is talking about the supreme idolotry, love and trust in money. Most folks I know do not love money as such, they love the security that it brings, Their trust is in their bank-books. It allows them to sleep at night. To " believe,' in Jesus, as called for in John 3, does not mean to give mental assent to the fact that He is the Son of God, that is only a portion of that word and many only have that portion and therefore do not have salvation. it means to trust, to put ones life in the hand of the Lord. Our lives cannot be in Gods hand and in moneys hand. We either trust in the Lord with all of our hearts or we do not, so in this regard I tend to agree with brother Zac. Yet, in most cases this is a process of sanctification and as in all aspects of Christianity, we have " weaker brothers.' God alone knows what is idolotrous in our lives, what we trust above and beyond Him. We can say that we trust in Him but only circumstances will flesh this out. Often times believers genuinly believe that they trust in God with all of their hearts until, for instance, they lose their jobs and they are forced to see that their trust was not as all encompassing as they thought. This is part of being refined in the fire. Probably many who read this have often had to face their own weaknesses and it was a shock to them to know that it even exsited, yet this is what the work of the Holy Spirit does in a believer. I thank the Lord for His work in the lives if His children.........brother Frank

I think Psalm1 makes some good points, especially the legalism aspect and who draws the line. Take my own example for instance. I was raised in one of the poorest areas of Scotland which is the poor man of Europe. We lived in what was known as a " tenement." There was five of us in a one bedroom high rise victorian building. It was overrun with vermin. We had no hot water and often spent months without electricity. Bt any measure of the Western world we were poor. Now, if an Indian brother, or a chinese brother or a brother living in a village in Mexico, could see where I lived, would they not marvel that I lived in an apartment with any kind of running water? Would they not be amazed that we had electricity even if it was cut off periodically for non payment of bills? Perhpas they would be amazed that for 15 cents I could have a warm bath with all the hot water I wanted once a week at the local indoor swimming pool? So, the average America would be horrified and most of the rest of the world may have thought that I was richly blessed.

Yes indeed, it is God who knows the hearts of men and this is how the Lord judges, not on the outward appearence. I wrote earlier that this subject could be used to bring men into bondage. A man could preach about the love of money until the cows come home and I would say amen every time.

I think about a conference I attended. Two of the most anointed speakers came from very different places, and everyone on this site would love and respect both. One wore the sharpest of suits and is always dressed very well, the other wore very plain clothes. The sharply dressed brother stayed at the best hotel in town, the other brother stayed in a room of a house volunteered by a local believer. Can we say that one was a witness for God and the other was not?..........brother Frank

Satan is a master schemer. He knows that if people are told to choose between God and Satan, no one will choose Satan. But when the choice is between God and Mammon, Satan knows that even believers will find it difficult to make a decisive choice.

Satan knows that most Christians choose their jobs and their place of residence, etc., based on their passion for Mammon (property and money) rather than on any desire for the promotion of God's kingdom. Satan knows that all such believers are useless for God's purposes, irrespective of the amount of religious activity they engage in.

Satan also knows that most of the Christian work in the world is more dependent on Mammon (money and property) than on the power of the Holy Spirit. Satan knows that all such Christian work will not have any eternal value - even if the reports of such work appear impressive when presented attractively by "public relations experts" in colourful Christian magazines!!

This article is very important and I hope many more saints here spend the time to read it.