Breaking Free from Mammon
Luke 16:9-15 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." 14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. 15 And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (NKJ)
Intro: The word for mammon occurs 4x in the Bible, 3 of them in our text, and the other one in Matthew 6:24, which parallels this passage in Luke 16, and tells us to lay up treasures in heaven, which puts mammon in its place.
-We’ll look at the meaning of mammon in just a moment, but notice how Jesus portrays the relationship dynamic between us and wealth. Either we can have wealth and use it to honor God in the way that He tells us, or wealth can have us! Either you will master money, or it will master you. Either way, there will be a master and a slave. Which one are you? NLT 1 Timothy 6:9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
-Today we want to take a look at the need to break free from the spirit of Mammon, which is to crave more, having less to show for it! Mammon wants to keep you enslaved and distracted from following God fully, but God wants you to be free!
1. Mammon Defined
-Christ warns against mammon in our text in Luke 16.
-Mammon was the name of the Syrian god of “riches and money” and the name of a demon in Milton’s Paradise Lost and Spenser’s Faerie Queene.
-In Paradise Lost, after Satan and 1/3 of the angels fall from heaven, a leading demon named Mammon advises Satan that further conflict with Heaven would be hopeless and reconciliation unbearable. Therefore, he suggests that the devils accept their present circumstance. He says that they should make their exile into a happy, fruitful existence by industriously building Hell into a place that might someday rival Heaven in beauty and splendor. Mammon states his creed, saying that instead of going to war against heaven, “[We will] seek / Our own good from ourselves, and from our own / Live to ourselves, though in this vast recess, / Free, and to none accountable, preferring / Hard liberty before the easy yoke / Of servile pomp.” Basically, Mammon is saying that they don’t need God or heaven, but can produce their own riches and do their own thing, making the most of their situation.
-Sound familiar? Tower of Babel – Who needs God? We’ll build our own thing! This is a prideful, arrogant spirit of confusion that breeds the idea of independence from God, never acknowledging that even the raw materials of wealth come from God. Mammon tries to replace God with things.
-In the biblical sense of the word, mammon is the spirit which rests on money.
-All money has a spirit impacting it – either God’s spirit or the spirit of this world.
When we redeem it, by giving the first fruits to God, through tithing, you remove the curse God spoke of in Malachi 3:9. You remove the spirit of mammon from your finances and invite the Spirit of God and His blessing on your finances.
The Rule of Mammon
-Mammon [Satan] is in direct contrast to the Spirit of God
-Mammon says “buy and keep” - God says “sow and reap”
-Mammon says “cheat and steal” – God says “give and receive”
-Mammon is looking for servants – it wants to rule your life and take the place of God (Luke 16:13). It promises everything but gives you nothing!
-Mammon promises what only God can give…
-Security, Significance, Identity, Independence, Power and Freedom
-Mammon is “selfish” and God is “generous”
-Mammon either tries to insulate us from life’s problems or get us to dwell on them
-Money is not our security – God is
-Usually, we see 2 options when we have a financial need: 1) Either God comes through for me, or 2) Someone needs to give me some money. We’re fine with either one as long as we get the money! But Jesus never told anyone that the answer to their problems was more money.
-The spirit of mammon says, “Think of all the good I could do if I only had more money!” This is a lie! If you’re not doing good with what you’ve got, you won’t do good with more. Many people have sold out to mammon, thinking their good intentions would guide them, but instead they found themselves trapped, never quite having enough to be truly generous.
The “voice” of Mammon – Money talks!
-Mammon is always “speaking” to us – trying to confuse us regarding God’s principles.
-Mammon especially talks to us when we are trying to give to the Lord.
-Mammon is always trying to prevent or discourage us from giving and being generous.
-So, you can see why you cannot serve God and mammon. They are opposed to each other. When you choose, you lose. If you choose mammon, you may lose your soul. Instead, choose God, and lose mammon’s hold on you!
2. Good Money, Bad Money?
-Is money evil? No, it’s neutral. It’s our attitudes and actions that are good or bad.
-Money is not evil, the love of money is evil – I Timothy 6:10
-Given the firstfruits principle, could unrighteous mammon be money that has not been redeemed?
-How are we to respond? 1 Timothy 6:6-10 6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 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.
Hebrews 13:5-6 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
True Riches
-Money can be used for righteous or unrighteous uses.
Luke 16:9-11 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?
-V.9 says to use unrighteous mammon for God and His kingdom. Put your treasure in heaven.
-What are true riches? People! People last forever, riches do not!
-God wants us to use our money to win souls and build His kingdom, not to build “our kingdom.”
-God takes our money, “blesses it”, and turns it into “souls.”
-The more we give - the more opportunity for souls to be won.
-God is looking for people he can entrust with “much.”
-Be faithful with mammon (lay it up in heaven by furthering the gospel with it), and you’ll be ready for true riches, the people you’ll see in heaven (who you helped get there) who will welcome you into your everlasting home.
Mammon has Friends – Pride, Greed and Poverty
-There are a couple of other spirits that run in the company of Mammon – Pride, Greed & Poverty
-The spirit of Poverty will cause you to be ashamed of the blessings of God
The spirit of Pride does not acknowledge God for His blessings
-The spirit of Greed causes us to hold on to all that we have or seek even more
-When someone says “that’s a nice car you have”
-Pride says “This is the latest and greatest hybrid and it is loaded with all the options, I paid a fortune for it”
-Poverty says “We bought it from a family member to help them out, it’s really a piece of junk and was really cheap.”
-Greed says, “Don’t even think about borrowing it!”
-Gratitude says “Thank you.”
The Comparison Trap
-Pride causes us to compare ourselves with others
-Poverty causes us to compare others with ourselves
-Greed doesn’t care
-Pride and poverty have this in common – they both always get us comparing ourselves with others. Don’t fall into the comparison trap
Rightly Relating to ‘Things’
-God not only uses our stuff to test us, but He’ll use other peoples’ stuff as well (Deuteronomy 5:21- Do not covet.)
-How we respond to someone else being blessed says a lot about the condition of our hearts.
-God doesn’t care if we have stuff, he cares if our stuff has us!
-A persons net worth doesn’t tell you anything about his heart!
-God wants us seek after Him, it’s the heart that matters (Matthew 6:33)
-What do we do with abundance? Keep it (hoard, save, invest)? Spend it? Or Give it? God wants us to live in balance, in moderation, showing self-control in all things.
-Ask God to make you aware of indicators in your life that you are looking to others or depending on money rather than looking to Him and depending on Him as your source of provision. We must discern the presence of the spirit of pride, poverty, or greed in our lives.
3. Master the Money!
-Now, maybe you’re thinking this msg doesn’t apply to you b/c you don’t have much money to worry about. Well, if you hang onto that poverty-minded perspective, there’s a good chance you never will have much. Luke 16:10 "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.
-The little you have is a test to show if you are ready to handle much! In the kingdom of God, good stewards get more so they can bless more people.
-Luke 16:12 “And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?” Don’t forget to be faithful with what belongs to someone else (God). Give Him the first tenth, the tithe, the first portion that redeems the rest.
-Here’s the best advice I can give you about what to do with your money:
1. Be a good steward with it! (We can help. You need a budget; otherwise you are not managing your money, you are letting it manage your life. We are looking at doing another round of Dave Ramsey’s FPU. Talk to me. There is help!)
-When you are a good steward of your money, you will have something to give when God speaks to you about giving. Giving is a rush! It is fun!
2. Be generous with it!
-Let go! When God speaks to your heart to give, overcome your fear of going without or missing out on what you could do with it. Boldly ask God to give a 100-fold return in souls for the kingdom, not 100-fold back to you.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
(Some thoughts and ideas borrowed from Robert Morris, The Blessed Life)
