Unrighteous Mammon

Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from The Book of Luke. 

Luke 16:10-13 (KJB)  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant 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.

Mammon is a term for earthly wealth and riches, and you cannot serve God and Mammon. When people begin to serve it, they will seek after it more and more, which only pulls them further and further away from God. It’s kind of like a blow up beach ball that begins to float away from the shore in the wind, and when you decide to jump in the water and swim after it, you end up getting further and further away from the safety of land. The Lord referred to this as the deceitfulness of riches in the parable of the sower. The Christian life is about having a close, faithful and loyal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, but there are innumerable things in this world that can come in between that relationship, one of which is the fervent desire to improve one’s financial standing in this temporal world.

I heard a story one time about a man who spent half of the year working really hard at a job so he could buy a brand new ATV. When his wife mentioned that he was gone all of the time, he eventually brought it home and presented it as a gift for her. But the real truth of the matter is that 95% of the time, he was the one who was using it and driving all over the place! The hard truth is that a lot of people will justify themselves that they really don’t really love money and possessions, but the truth is that they actually do. That is the deceitfulness of riches. Many of them profess to be Christian but are no different than the religious leaders that Jesus rebuked 2,000 years ago. 

Luke 16:14 (KJB)  And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

When you talk about financial gain in the church, people begin to squirm in their chairs, but the facts are what do you really need in life? A lot of people will spend 40 hours a week at a job somewhere making all kinds of money but how much time do they actually spend with God? God doesn’t need money in the offering plate to satisfy Him, what He wants is your heart, something that He will only receive when you quit selling your soul to the world. Consider this…..

How many times have you wanted to spend time with your dad, but as soon as he came home he gave you twenty bucks and said go have fun with your friends? Kids don’t need remuneration, they need a relationship. I have met so many young people who had the same type of dad, one who thought that throwing money and lavish gifts at their children was going to make them happy, while the entire time the children would have been content being dirt poor in order to spend more time with him. If you can understand that, then you should be able to understand the Spiritual concept that I’m trying to explain to you. God wants a close relationship with us, but just like a parent who’s got no time in their schedule, people have got no time for God. This is because their hearts are misplaced on other things instead. 

1 John 2:15-17 (KJB)  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The love of money is extremely treacherous because people always seem to want more of it, while the truth is that they should want to have more of God! Consider Moses and the incredible things that God did in his life because he renounced the riches and treasures of Egypt in order to seek after the true riches in Christ.

Hebrews 11:24-26 (KJB)  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

A poor widow did the same thing, and gave up everything she had in order to give to the things of God. 

Luke 21:1-4 (KJB)  And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

Abel gave a better sacrifice than Cain.

Hebrews 11:4 (KJV)  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Contentedness is taught in the New Testament, but most people are never really going to be content, and that’s the honest truth.  This is because rather than being happy with their food and their clothes they are always trying to live up to the Joneses next door. They want a sculptured garden. They want the beautiful golf course lawn. They want the slate shingles, and the cobblestone driveway. But whether you walk up to the front door on cobblestone, crushed granite, or wood chips, the only thing that really matters is getting inside the house, not the expense in which it took to get there. 

Anything that you could ever obtain on this Earth is going to be burned up anyway, so to that I say, what’s the point of wasting so much time trying to attain it? The Apostles gave up everything so they could spend their time with Jesus.  Millions upon millions of professing Christians want to justify themselves by claiming prosperity, healthy and wealthy, but really there no different than the Pharisees of old. This is because rather than coveting after Spiritual things, their hearts are coveting after worldly ones instead.

Revelation 3:17-19 (KJB)  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

You cannot serve God and money because the love of money is the root of all evil, and whatever you invest your money in is what you really love.

Matthew 13:44-46 (KJB)  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

In order to serve God perfectly, Jesus must be our first and greatest love, and you will never be able to do that if your eyes are focused on……

……Unrighteous Mammon

Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.

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