The world loves to complain about unfair treatment towards it when it is adversely affected, and of course, loves to justify its evil, perverse, oppressive treatment of others. Such is the vileness of the world! However, on the other hand, such can only be expected of the world who knows not God and is in bondage to sin through love of its sin.
The modern Church is one that is largely influenced by the world. It has failed to be true salt and light of the world. It is full of the fear of people. It is full of anxiety about how it can provide for oneself and one's family. It also still loves to complain about its lack of "rights", that which the true Christian would know is a false doctrine for absolutely everything good is given by God out of His grace alone. It is the evidence that many in the modern Church are under the spirit of mammon, controlled by him - all without even knowing. As such, many in the modern Church are in bondage to such things and do not even understand why. The devil must be laughing at the modern Church.
Before you get "offended", yet another manifestation of you being under the spirit of mammon, know this: simply because one is a true Christian does in no way mean to that one cannot fall into spiritual bondage. As someone who has been through such spiritual bondage for a long time, after encountering a person who is full of the fear of man, a snare (Proverbs 29:25), controlled by the spirit of mammon, and being harshly lectured by such people, and experienced their false sense of graciousness, I understand that even being exposed to such a person is a snare in itself. Such true converts are like a cancer cell to the body of Christ.
Yet, because they are true converts, they cannot be discarded away, for Christ has saved them, but they must be avoided at all costs for they lay a bitter snare for any true convert who is seeking to live a holy, righteous, godly life. They vex the spirit of the person by pose an encumbrance to those seeking to run the race (Hebrews 12:1). They are the favourite tools of the devil who he uses against those seeking to live a godly, holy and righteous life for they are true converts who are not to be easily dismissed are encumbrances, but yet do not merely cause others to stumble, but are themselves a stumbling block to others by their influence - people-pleasing, people-fearing and mammon-dominated.
The spirit of mammon can and does control true converts. Although the true convert has the Holy Spirit residing in him, he can be dominated by the spirit of mammon by succumbing to his snares, or even opening himself up to him, by merely accepting a mammonised doctrine in his mind, even to the slighest extent. The spirit of mammon seeks to seduce, dominate and blind.
You may ask, doesn't he only seek to seduce, dominate and blind the world? He already has! Such a question is a laughable, naive question. If the spirit of mammon did not seek to seduce, dominate and blind the Church, he would not be the spirit of mammon at all. The raison d'être of the spirit of mammon is to seduce, dominate and blind all humans, whether unsaved or not, so as to either lead them to Hell, or make them useless for God, in the case of the true convert. Wake up Church! The spirit of mammon prowls around seeking to devour, just as His master, satan prowls around seeking to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
To claim that the spirit of mammon exists and seeks to seduce, dominate and blind is by no means to imply that one's greed, anxiety for earthly things, earthliness, and envy are to be blamed on the spirit of mammon. No! The spirit of mammon is exactly that: a spirit. He is not made up by some fanatics, or some people who are trying to get attention. No, he is a spirit and he seeks to tempt Christians into the besetting sin of anxiety, envy, and earthliness.
The spirit of mammon works through all desires to satisfy the desire for earthly needs being met. He blinds those true converts who minds have fallen into earthliness,or who are not heavenly-minded enough to resist him, into earthly thinking. He is extremely subtle, making a true convert think that he is heavenly-minded enough to resist him, when he is only just heavenly-minded enough to be counted heavenly-minded, yet earthly-minded enough to not see just how so earthly-minded he is. It is like one has a bowl of pure water, but tainted by 1 nanolitre of poison. The whole bowl of water is poisonous. Likewise, the slightest bit of earthly-mindedness in the true Christian makes him earthly-minded.
The spirit of mammon seduces people, in particular, the true convert into thinking that he or she can somehow serve both God and mammon, that which is contrary to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:24: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." This is plainly what Jesus said, that no one can serve both God and mammon in anyway at all. To serve, try to serve mammon, or even to the slightest think one can serve mammon, and yet please God is not only deception, but an abominable blasphemy.
Jesus 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 (Matthew 6:19-21).
Let's all do exactly what they means: to not lay up earthly treasures but seek first the righteousness of God.
The modern Church is one that is largely influenced by the world. It has failed to be true salt and light of the world. It is full of the fear of people. It is full of anxiety about how it can provide for oneself and one's family. It also still loves to complain about its lack of "rights", that which the true Christian would know is a false doctrine for absolutely everything good is given by God out of His grace alone. It is the evidence that many in the modern Church are under the spirit of mammon, controlled by him - all without even knowing. As such, many in the modern Church are in bondage to such things and do not even understand why. The devil must be laughing at the modern Church.
Before you get "offended", yet another manifestation of you being under the spirit of mammon, know this: simply because one is a true Christian does in no way mean to that one cannot fall into spiritual bondage. As someone who has been through such spiritual bondage for a long time, after encountering a person who is full of the fear of man, a snare (Proverbs 29:25), controlled by the spirit of mammon, and being harshly lectured by such people, and experienced their false sense of graciousness, I understand that even being exposed to such a person is a snare in itself. Such true converts are like a cancer cell to the body of Christ.
Yet, because they are true converts, they cannot be discarded away, for Christ has saved them, but they must be avoided at all costs for they lay a bitter snare for any true convert who is seeking to live a holy, righteous, godly life. They vex the spirit of the person by pose an encumbrance to those seeking to run the race (Hebrews 12:1). They are the favourite tools of the devil who he uses against those seeking to live a godly, holy and righteous life for they are true converts who are not to be easily dismissed are encumbrances, but yet do not merely cause others to stumble, but are themselves a stumbling block to others by their influence - people-pleasing, people-fearing and mammon-dominated.
The spirit of mammon can and does control true converts. Although the true convert has the Holy Spirit residing in him, he can be dominated by the spirit of mammon by succumbing to his snares, or even opening himself up to him, by merely accepting a mammonised doctrine in his mind, even to the slighest extent. The spirit of mammon seeks to seduce, dominate and blind.
You may ask, doesn't he only seek to seduce, dominate and blind the world? He already has! Such a question is a laughable, naive question. If the spirit of mammon did not seek to seduce, dominate and blind the Church, he would not be the spirit of mammon at all. The raison d'être of the spirit of mammon is to seduce, dominate and blind all humans, whether unsaved or not, so as to either lead them to Hell, or make them useless for God, in the case of the true convert. Wake up Church! The spirit of mammon prowls around seeking to devour, just as His master, satan prowls around seeking to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
To claim that the spirit of mammon exists and seeks to seduce, dominate and blind is by no means to imply that one's greed, anxiety for earthly things, earthliness, and envy are to be blamed on the spirit of mammon. No! The spirit of mammon is exactly that: a spirit. He is not made up by some fanatics, or some people who are trying to get attention. No, he is a spirit and he seeks to tempt Christians into the besetting sin of anxiety, envy, and earthliness.
The spirit of mammon works through all desires to satisfy the desire for earthly needs being met. He blinds those true converts who minds have fallen into earthliness,or who are not heavenly-minded enough to resist him, into earthly thinking. He is extremely subtle, making a true convert think that he is heavenly-minded enough to resist him, when he is only just heavenly-minded enough to be counted heavenly-minded, yet earthly-minded enough to not see just how so earthly-minded he is. It is like one has a bowl of pure water, but tainted by 1 nanolitre of poison. The whole bowl of water is poisonous. Likewise, the slightest bit of earthly-mindedness in the true Christian makes him earthly-minded.
The spirit of mammon seduces people, in particular, the true convert into thinking that he or she can somehow serve both God and mammon, that which is contrary to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:24: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." This is plainly what Jesus said, that no one can serve both God and mammon in anyway at all. To serve, try to serve mammon, or even to the slightest think one can serve mammon, and yet please God is not only deception, but an abominable blasphemy.
To serve mammon means to seek to serve the flesh, and thereby serve mammon. regardless of whether one is seeking to serve one's earthly needs or that of others. Do not even think you can use 1 Timothy 5:8 as an excuse or justification to seek earthly needs, that which the unbelievers do: "For the Gentiles [pagans] seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all" (Matthew 6:32). If you do, you are not only accusing Jesus of lying, you are calling Him a liar. You are blaspheming the Word if you think 1 Timothy 5:8 is an excuse to be anxious about earthly things, and you need to question your own salvation. The Word of God condemns you for that, not me.
If you are anxious, do not trust in earthly things, which rot away (Matthew 6:19), but rather take all your anxieties to God. Such is the way of the fool who trusts in earthly things. Rather, "be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6). She who lives for earthly things, or seek earthly things, any earthly thing, whether it be material possession, comfort, recognition, respect from others as manifested by fear of people is a fool. By his own foolishness, he sets a up a snare for himself, for which the spirit of mammon seeks to enslave him to.
Do not seek respect from the world for seeking respect from others is a snare. The frustration, anger, fear of being disrespected by others is a snare for him who seeks such respect. This is manifested in the fear of people that many in the modern Church have. Through fear of people, one will live to serve people, ultimately their flesh, rather than serve God.
The most classical manifestation of how fear of people is used by the spirit of mammon to enslave people is that staffworker from a university campus ministry knows that his income comes from donations given by those who he looks after, or perhaps even the university council who may be generous enough to allocate some of the university budget to 'religious' ministries. He knows that if he offends people, he will his income will be threatened.
As such, he is full of the fear of people, and his work in the ministry is all centred of the fear of people, thinking that he is being Biblical, by preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, since is under the spirit of mammon, he is seduced by mammon into thinking that he must be "respectful" and "gentle" meaning to fear people, and accordingly, teaches people to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, while fearing people. He is full of the fear of people and under the spirit of mammon, knowing that he cannot offended those who feed him.
Such is he who fails to live by the every Word of God, but is attempting to live by bread alone, seeking earthly needs, instead of fully trusting God to give he needs. He is violated the Word of God which says "man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live" (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4). No wonder campus ministries fear talking about what it means to live by the Word of God. They feel uncomfortable and react against it by dogmatically insisting that you "focus" only on the words of the particular passage examined, which can only be understood by reading the Bible in its entirety. Deuteronomy 8:3 is a command by Jesus, not a choice, opinion or advice. It is a command to not live by bread alone, but rather by every Word of God.
Once a person is seduced by the spirit of mammon into thinking that he can serve God and mammon, and in very subtle ways, he then uses the bondage that one is in to dominate the person. A person dominated by the spirit of mammon is one who lives for him. A true Christian dominated by the spirit of mammon is one who seeks to live for God, but imposes an expectation on God that He must give him what he thinks he needs, accordingly to what he thinks, that is according to the flesh. Instead of trusting God's wisdom in providing for him, he trusts in the arms of the flesh. He does this all without realising it, thinking that he has a "right" to expect from God what he thinks he needs in his minuscule wisdom, if humans even have wisdom at all. As such, he makes himself a hypocrite and a liar, by claiming himself a Christian. Once well-known theologian said something along that lines of Christians being the biggest liars collectively. He is right.
When the spirit of mammon dominates a person, he now blinds him. That is what the spirit of mammon loves. He loves it when people think they are just "seeking their legitimate needs", but are really just anxious for such things, and not trusting in God. He must be absolutely delighted at the state of the modern Church, which is full of the fear of people, and controlled by the spirit of mammon.
Many in the modern Church fear to speak up against the evils of the modern world, and insist on so-called 'gentleness' when speaking about such things, but yet are more aggressive than a bear robbed of her cubs when even hearing about how the spirit of mammon operates through them. No wonder the Bible says better to met a bear robbed of her clubs than a fool in his folly (Proverbs 17:12). Many in the modern Church, that is true converts, are fools who are filled with folly regarding how to think Biblically about earthly possessions. Their angry reactions, or discomfort when confronted with talk about the spirit of mammon is mere manifestation of their folly.
Trusting or finding security in earthly things, or seeking after earthly things, whatever it may be is folly. Those who thinking it is legitimate to seek after earthly things are fools in their folly. True Christians are not excluded from this. Many in the modern Church think that one can somehow serve both God and mammon, by trusting in their own human strength to obtain earthly needs, while at the same time, seeking God's blessings. Such is the double-mindedness of many in the modern Church! James 1:5-8 says:
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
A faithless person is a double-minded person. He trusts a person, yet at the same does not trust that person. He is unfaithful for he is not devoting to one person, but rather seeing who can give him the "better deal" like a businessman or politician who sways from one position to another, seeking to gain his own advantage. Such a person is unstable in his ways, like the woman in Proverbs 5. He moves where ever the wind blows.
You may retort that you are not a faithless person for you are in Christ. You may accuse me of painting you as an enemy of Christ. Whether one is unsaved or saved, anyone who does not fully and unconditionally trust in God's providence, one is being faithless. The slightest hint of failure to trust God is faithlessness itself. Such faithlessness is manifested by double-mindedness. As such, a person is blinded into thinking that it is legitimate to seek his earthly needs, and not fully and unconditionally trust God, which is precisely what is means to be faithless, and double-minded. The spirit of mammon thrives on this faithlessness and double-mindedness in many in the modern Church, to deceive them into thinking they can somehow serve God and mammon, and that they could not possibly be earthly-minded in what they are doing to serve God.
Jesus 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 (Matthew 6:19-21).
Let's all do exactly what they means: to not lay up earthly treasures but seek first the righteousness of God.
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