I want to speak today on the Spirit of Mammon.
I want to have a look in Matthew 6.
Jesus spoke a lot about many things, but the number of times He talked about wealth and possessions, stewardship and accountability, far exceeded any discussion on any other topic.
In fact there's about 10 times the number of references to finances and stewardship and resources, than there are to faith and salvation, and yet all of these go together.
Often the moment we start to talk about money, people freeze, and you'll see why just shortly. I'm not after anyone's money. I'm not trying to talk to anyone to give any money.
I want to help us gain understanding of the spiritual nature of money and what lies behind it, and how to be free, how to walk in freedom.
Matthew 6:20-21 says: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.
So we ask the question: why did Jesus speak so much about stewardship, resources; being a steward or servant of God; managing resources, finance - why did he speak so much about that?
It says very clearly: where your treasure is, your heart is there too. Now there's a lot of things we teach on that, but let's just take the most simple thing is that: where your wealth is, where the things you value lie, that's where your heart is.
Wherever your treasure is, that's where your heart is; or: where your money and wealth is, that's where your heart will be.
For example, if you bought $1.00 worth of shares in a company and the company falls over, you're not even worried at all.
But if you put all your life savings in that company, now you'll be watching the paper every day to see how it's doing.
Where your treasure is, your heart will naturally flow there; and Jesus makes it very clear: God is concerned about our hearts, and what grips our heart.
God does not need our money. He doesn't need the silver and gold. Heaven's full of gold. Gold is like the paving stones of heaven, so therefore in heaven, gold has a different perspective to what it has on the earth.
God is interested in us. Gold and silver pass away, but people are eternal; so God is interested in you, and He's interested in your blessing, your welfare and your success in life.
He wants us, each of us to succeed in fulfilling our destiny in life. So as we look at this area on the Spirit of Mammon, we'll see that there's competition for your heart.
There are four references to Mammon in the Bible, and all of them are spoken by Jesus.
One of them is found in Matthew 6:24 - “No one can serve two masters, for either you'll hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon”. That's the first reference to it.
The second references is found in Luke 16:9-13 – “I say to you: make friends for yourselves of unrighteous Mammon, so when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. He who is faithful in what is least, is faithful also in much; he who is unjust in what is least, is unjust in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you've not been faithful in that which is another man's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; he will hate one and love the other, or he'll be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon”.
This is the only time that Jesus ever said that you can't do this and that - that it's impossible; so what He's saying very clearly: it's impossible to serve Mammon (whatever that means), and to serve God.
There is an antagonism, or they are opposed to one another, so we have to understand or look at what it means.
The first thing is to ask the question: what is the Spirit of Mammon?
The Bible is very clear that we live an actual world, but there's also a spiritual world around us; and that the spiritual world influences and controls the lives of people.