Mammon works through the "lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and pride of life" (1 John 2:16). He seeks to make people serve him, instead of God. He is behind literally all earthliness and is pervasive in all aspects of life. He seeks to seduce us all, both the saved and unsaved, with not merely wealth, but all earthly things. He seduces us all with earthly security. He offers earthly things like health, education, family, children, romance, career, power, status and security, including 'basic needs' to entice people to serve him. He does so very deceptively.
Mammon does this through making people anxious for earthly security, and therefore a lack of peace. He does this by making people think they are entitled to all they have. For those Christians who believe they cannot be under him, and therefore, are not seeking after riches, he makes them think that they are entitled to their 'basic needs' and 'security'. He deceives them into thinking that they "deserve" what they earn, when everything they have come from God. This indicates they do not really know what Jesus meant when He said that no one can serve both God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).
Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21 said:
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: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth' refers to earthly things. It must be noted how it does not distinguish between varying amounts of earthly things, whether it be "great" wealth, or "little" wealth. So, Jesus was telling His followers in Matthew 6 not to seek after earthly things, but to seek after heavenly treasure - that is, to work for the Kingdom of God. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth is a command, not an "opinion", advice or choice, but a command for the Christian.
Many Christians in the modern church argue that one can seek to lay up earthly treasures to serve God. I have encountered many Christians like this, who place the onus on the Christians who insist that this is not the case to prove it. If seeking earthly treasure can be done to serve God, why did Jesus give this command to not lay up treasure for yourselves on earth? Why?
It is because the love of money, the epitome of earthliness is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Thus, the love of mammon is the root of all evil. To even be anxious or worried whether one will have 1 cent is to love mammon because being anxious about one's earthly needs is to be faithless. Jesus rebuked His followers who were anxious for their earthly needs to be of little faith. He said: "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith" (Matthew 6:30)?
To be anxious or worried about earthly things is to hate God because it is to put one's faith in earthly things, instead of the one through whom all things were created (Colossians 1:16). It is to fail to love God, the Greatest Commandment given by Jesus. Even "smallest" failure to fully trust in God is to hate God because it evidences a lack of trust in God. This lack of trust in God comes from the human pride of the carnal flesh which is hostile against God and cannot submit to God (Romans 8:7). Such pride is the root of all sins because it rejects God, and questions God's being and character.
Mammon works through such pride of life, and seduces a person to trust in one's own human strength, "wisdom", deeds and thoughts instead of God. A person being constantly worried and anxious about earthly things is the literal indicator of hostility against God. Such is obvious in secular political pundits who appear in the media to give their "wise" commentary about politics, the economists who constantly ask what moves need to be taken to reverse the crisis, and those who campaign for "rights" and "equality". It is their belief that God is not needed to solve the problems that shows their hostility and hatred of God. The root of this is their pride in themselves and their sense of self-entitlement to what they want.
When one is proud, thinking that one need not God to provide one's needs, or fully trusting in Him, in the case of the Christian, mammon seeks to cause anxiety, resulting in no peace within the individual that one's earthly needs are not met.
It is because mammon works through anxiety for one's earthly needs to be met, and the belief that one is self-entitled to such things that he works through capitalism and democracy. They are his strongholds over the world to enslave them to their anxieties and lack of peace.
Mammon does this through making people anxious for earthly security, and therefore a lack of peace. He does this by making people think they are entitled to all they have. For those Christians who believe they cannot be under him, and therefore, are not seeking after riches, he makes them think that they are entitled to their 'basic needs' and 'security'. He deceives them into thinking that they "deserve" what they earn, when everything they have come from God. This indicates they do not really know what Jesus meant when He said that no one can serve both God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).
Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21 said:
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: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth' refers to earthly things. It must be noted how it does not distinguish between varying amounts of earthly things, whether it be "great" wealth, or "little" wealth. So, Jesus was telling His followers in Matthew 6 not to seek after earthly things, but to seek after heavenly treasure - that is, to work for the Kingdom of God. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth is a command, not an "opinion", advice or choice, but a command for the Christian.
Many Christians in the modern church argue that one can seek to lay up earthly treasures to serve God. I have encountered many Christians like this, who place the onus on the Christians who insist that this is not the case to prove it. If seeking earthly treasure can be done to serve God, why did Jesus give this command to not lay up treasure for yourselves on earth? Why?
It is because the love of money, the epitome of earthliness is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Thus, the love of mammon is the root of all evil. To even be anxious or worried whether one will have 1 cent is to love mammon because being anxious about one's earthly needs is to be faithless. Jesus rebuked His followers who were anxious for their earthly needs to be of little faith. He said: "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith" (Matthew 6:30)?
To be anxious or worried about earthly things is to hate God because it is to put one's faith in earthly things, instead of the one through whom all things were created (Colossians 1:16). It is to fail to love God, the Greatest Commandment given by Jesus. Even "smallest" failure to fully trust in God is to hate God because it evidences a lack of trust in God. This lack of trust in God comes from the human pride of the carnal flesh which is hostile against God and cannot submit to God (Romans 8:7). Such pride is the root of all sins because it rejects God, and questions God's being and character.
Mammon works through such pride of life, and seduces a person to trust in one's own human strength, "wisdom", deeds and thoughts instead of God. A person being constantly worried and anxious about earthly things is the literal indicator of hostility against God. Such is obvious in secular political pundits who appear in the media to give their "wise" commentary about politics, the economists who constantly ask what moves need to be taken to reverse the crisis, and those who campaign for "rights" and "equality". It is their belief that God is not needed to solve the problems that shows their hostility and hatred of God. The root of this is their pride in themselves and their sense of self-entitlement to what they want.
When one is proud, thinking that one need not God to provide one's needs, or fully trusting in Him, in the case of the Christian, mammon seeks to cause anxiety, resulting in no peace within the individual that one's earthly needs are not met.
It is because mammon works through anxiety for one's earthly needs to be met, and the belief that one is self-entitled to such things that he works through capitalism and democracy. They are his strongholds over the world to enslave them to their anxieties and lack of peace.
Comments
Post a Comment