God and mammon
Zac Poonen
It is interesting to see that even though Jesus referred to Satan as "the ruler of this world" (John 14:30). He never referred to Satan as the alternative master to God, whom people have the choice of serving. When Jesus spoke of two masters whom men could serve, He said that the two were God and Mammon (Luke 16:13). In Christendom, generally speaking, preachers have always urged people to choose between God and Satan. Jesus however urged people to choose between God and Mammon.
Satan is a master schemer. He knows that if people are told to choose between God and Satan, no one will choose Satan. But when the choice is between God and Mammon, Satan knows that even believers will find it difficult to make a decisive choice.
Satan knows that most Christians choose their jobs and their place of residence, etc., based on their passion for Mammon (property and money) rather than on any desire for the promotion of God's kingdom. Satan knows that all such believers are useless for God's purposes, irrespective of the amount of religious activity they engage in.
Satan also knows that most of the Christian work in the world is more dependent on Mammon (money and property) than on the power of the Holy Spirit. Satan knows that all such Christian work will not have any eternal value - even if the reports of such work appear impressive when presented attractively by "public relations experts" in colourful Christian magazines!!
We must not be ignorant of Satan's wiles. It is against Satan's wiles that we are told to stand firm, and not against his wrath (Eph.6:11). Satan's wrath has never hindered the work of God at any time. Persecution has only made the church of Jesus Christ flourish in every country and at all times. But Satan has often succeeded with his wiles, where he has failed to accomplish anything with his wrath (see Rev.12:11,12).
Satan is happy to be hidden out of sight, because he knows that he can deceive people better that way. He knows very well that when a believer is influenced by the love of mammon in his decisions, he is actually serving the prince of Mammon, even if he imagines that he is serving God!!
When a believer's attitude to Mammon is wrong, he will be wrong in every other area too - because he then becomes a part of this world system that our Lord came to destroy. Such a man is a traitor to the Lord's cause on earth, even though he may not realize it. He is actually working on Satan's side, without knowing it. This is the fundamental problem with many believers today. They have not understood Satan's schemes.
Before Jesus went to the cross, He told His disciples, "The prince of this world comes and he has no power over Me" (John 14:30 - Living). Mammon had no power over Jesus. And so Satan could find no foothold in Him and could not touch Him in any way. But Satan finds plenty of foothold through Mammon in the lives of most believers. Thus he is able to divert them from God's perfect plan for their lives.
Throughout the last 20 centuries, the greatest opposition for the Lord's servants has always come from "Christians" and so-called "believers" who are Biblical in all their doctrines except the doctrine of "the love of money"! It is not at all surprising that "believers" who worship Mammon oppose God's true prophets. Jesus Himself faced such opposition from the leaders of the Pharisees who had all their other doctrines right (Matt.23:3), but who loved and served Mammon (Luke 16:14).
Christians who pursue after Mammon have plenty of money to travel whenever they like, and wherever they like. They also have enough to buy whatever they like, whenever they like. Only lovers of Mammon can afford such expensive habits. But those who have an extravagant lifestyle can never be witnesses for the Lord in the midst of a suffering world.
It is dangerous to have money far beyond what we need. It was because Jonah had plenty of extra money that he could afford to buy a ticket to go to Tarshish - in plain disobedience to the Lord's command. How safe Jonah would have been from such a temptation, if he did not have any excess money available with him at that time.
It was to save His apostles from such temptations, that Jesus left them poor in the world. The Lord Who made Job, Abraham and David rich could easily have made His apostles rich too. But He didn't. Why? Because new-covenant apostles, unlike Old Testament saints, had to wage war against Satan. And when Satan came against them, it was essential that Satan should find "no love for Mammon in them"? Otherwise the Lord's purposes could never have been fulfilled through them.
What about you? When Satan comes against you, does he have power over you, because he finds the love of Mammon in you?
The battle against Satan is not fought on earth, but in "the heavenlies" (Eph.6:12). It is there that Satan's power has to be bound by us (Matt.18:18). Only those who are heavenly-minded can fight this battle. Those who love Mammon are earthly-minded and are useless in this battle. Satan knows that very well, even if believers don't.
In heaven, the saints walk on golden streets. Heaven has been prepared for those who have learnt to put gold under their feet even on earth. Our fasting and praying cannot accomplish God's purposes, if we love Mammon and are earthly-minded. It is only the prayer of "a righteous man" - one who has been freed from attachment to earthly things, like Elijah - whose prayers are effective before God (James 5:16,17). This is why God allows us at times, to lose large amounts of money - to deliver us from the love of Mammon and to make us effective for Him.
It will be very difficult for a disciple of Jesus, if he is totally honest and wholehearted, to become rich through his business in a world that is under the dominion of Satan. To become a wealthy man in such a world, one would have to follow Satan's principles in some area or the other, and disobey the principles of God's Word. The Bible clearly says,
"Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction." (1 Tim.6:9). One who seeks to be "rich towards God" can never become "rich in this world" (Luke 12:21; 1 Tim.6:17).
This applies also to preachers who become rich through preaching the gospel and selling Christian books and tapes. Another gimmick these days, is to conduct tours to Israel ("the holy land"??). If a preacher can gather 10 people for a trip to Israel, the travel agent will give him one free ticket. All such preachers are worshipping "the golden calf" and are servants of Mammon, and not of the Lord Jesus Christ. [Someone asked me once if I had ever been to the holy land. I told him I was walking there every day!]
The "prosperity gospel" was invented in the latter half of the 20th century by Mammon-loving preachers who had to find some "Scriptural" explanation to justify their extravagant lifestyles and the immense amount of wealth that they had accumulated from the tithes and offerings of their "devotees". So they hunted up Old Testament promises that God had given to Israel and began to proclaim those promises as the unfailing mark of God's blessing today. And money-loving believers gladly lapped up this new gospel!
A secular journalist in the U.S.A., who heard of such a church where the "prosperity gospel" was being preached, wanted to find out if this teaching really worked. So he went to the church's parking lot and checked out the makes of the cars parked there. He found that the cars parked in the spots reserved for the "Pastor" and "Assistant Pastors" were expensive cars!! But most of the other cars were cheap ones! He concluded that the "prosperity gospel" did work - but only for those who lived off the tithes and offerings of the congregation!! The rest of the congregation remained in the same condition that they had always been in!
Even in poor countries like India, preachers are becoming rich, off the tithes and offerings of poor people, through this counterfeit gospel.
What must the Lord think of the Christian "church" and its leaders today, who have pursued after Mammon, become tolerant of sin, and thus made themselves powerless in the battle against Satan. The gates of Hell have prevailed against this "church". And that is the clearest proof that this "church" is not the church that our Lord is building - for the powers of darkness can never prevail against that church (Matt.16:18).
Whenever a genuine Holy-Spirit revival comes anywhere, it will be a revival that delivers believers from the love of Mammon. Only such a revival will drive the prince of Mammon out of the church.
Any other so-called "revival" is a counterfeit.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
5 Puritan Evangelism Lessons
5 Puritan Evangelism Lessons
The Word of God is preached too often today in a way that will not transform listeners because it fails to discriminate and fails to apply. Such preaching is reduced to a lecture, a demonstration, a catering to what people want to hear, or the kind of subjectivism that is divorced from the foundation of scripture . . . Reformed and Puritan preachers applied their sermons to every part of life, all of Scripture to the entire man. They were unashamedly doctrinal. We can learn much from them on how to evangelize, such as:
1) Speak the truth about God. That seems obvious. But how often do we speak to others about God's majestic being, His Trinitarian personality, and His glorious attributes? How often do we tell others about His holiness, sovereignty, mercy, and love? Do we root our evangelism in a robust biblical theism, or do we take our cues from modern evangelism which approaches God as if He were a next-door neighbor, who adjusts His attributes to our needs and desires? How often do we speak to others about how God and His majestic attributes have become experientially real to us?
2) Speak the truth about man. Do you talk to others about our depraved nature and our desperate need for salvation in Jesus Christ? Do you say that you are no better than they are by nature; that we are all, apart from grace, sinners with a terrible record, which is a legal problem, as well as a bad heart, which is a moral problem? Do you talk to them about the dreadful character of sin; that sin is something that stems back to our tragic fall in Adam and affects every part of us, so dominating our mind, heart, will, and conscience that we are slaves to it? Do you describe sin as moral rebellion against God? Do you say that the wages of sin is death, now and for all eternity?
3) Speak the truth about Christ. Do we present the complete Christ to sinners, not separating His benefits from His person or offering Him as a Savior while ignoring His claims as Lord? Do we offer Christ as the grand remedy for the great malady of sin and repeatedly declare His ability, willingness to save, and preciousness as the exclusive Redeemer of lost sinners? Do you exhibit the way of salvation in Christ in your faith and repentance? Paul said, "I testified to you publicly and from house to house repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:20-21). Do you likewise evangelize your friends and neighbors when God offers that opportunity? Do you explain to them what faith and repentance are in a born-again sinner?
4) Speak the truth about sanctification. Do you tell others how a Christian must walk the King's highway of holiness in gratitude, service, obedience, love, and self-denial? Do you tell how he must learn the art of meditation, of fearing God, and of childlike prayer? How he must press on by God's grace, seeking to make his calling and election sure? Do you disciple your associates in the need for habitual, experiential faith, repentance, and godliness?
5) Speak the truth about eternal consequences. Do not be afraid to speak about the consequences of despising the blood of Jesus Christ. Do not flinch from describing damnation and hell. As one Puritan wrote, "We must go with the stick of divine truth and beat every bush behind which a sinner hides, until like Adam who hid, he stands before God in his nakedness." We must speak urgently to people around us because many are on their way to hell. We must confront sinners with the law and gospel, with death in Adam and life in Christ. Let us use every weapon we can to turn sinners from the road of destruction so they may, through grace, experience a living, experiential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. We know from Scripture and by experience that an omnipotent Christ can bless our efforts and rescue a dead sinner, divorce him from his sinful lusts, and make him willing to forsake his wicked ways and turn to God, fully resolved to make God his goal and his praise. Acts 5:31 says, "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Praise God for the experience of His amazing grace toward us in Christ.
The Word of God is preached too often today in a way that will not transform listeners because it fails to discriminate and fails to apply. Such preaching is reduced to a lecture, a demonstration, a catering to what people want to hear, or the kind of subjectivism that is divorced from the foundation of scripture . . . Reformed and Puritan preachers applied their sermons to every part of life, all of Scripture to the entire man. They were unashamedly doctrinal. We can learn much from them on how to evangelize, such as:
1) Speak the truth about God. That seems obvious. But how often do we speak to others about God's majestic being, His Trinitarian personality, and His glorious attributes? How often do we tell others about His holiness, sovereignty, mercy, and love? Do we root our evangelism in a robust biblical theism, or do we take our cues from modern evangelism which approaches God as if He were a next-door neighbor, who adjusts His attributes to our needs and desires? How often do we speak to others about how God and His majestic attributes have become experientially real to us?
2) Speak the truth about man. Do you talk to others about our depraved nature and our desperate need for salvation in Jesus Christ? Do you say that you are no better than they are by nature; that we are all, apart from grace, sinners with a terrible record, which is a legal problem, as well as a bad heart, which is a moral problem? Do you talk to them about the dreadful character of sin; that sin is something that stems back to our tragic fall in Adam and affects every part of us, so dominating our mind, heart, will, and conscience that we are slaves to it? Do you describe sin as moral rebellion against God? Do you say that the wages of sin is death, now and for all eternity?
3) Speak the truth about Christ. Do we present the complete Christ to sinners, not separating His benefits from His person or offering Him as a Savior while ignoring His claims as Lord? Do we offer Christ as the grand remedy for the great malady of sin and repeatedly declare His ability, willingness to save, and preciousness as the exclusive Redeemer of lost sinners? Do you exhibit the way of salvation in Christ in your faith and repentance? Paul said, "I testified to you publicly and from house to house repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:20-21). Do you likewise evangelize your friends and neighbors when God offers that opportunity? Do you explain to them what faith and repentance are in a born-again sinner?
4) Speak the truth about sanctification. Do you tell others how a Christian must walk the King's highway of holiness in gratitude, service, obedience, love, and self-denial? Do you tell how he must learn the art of meditation, of fearing God, and of childlike prayer? How he must press on by God's grace, seeking to make his calling and election sure? Do you disciple your associates in the need for habitual, experiential faith, repentance, and godliness?
5) Speak the truth about eternal consequences. Do not be afraid to speak about the consequences of despising the blood of Jesus Christ. Do not flinch from describing damnation and hell. As one Puritan wrote, "We must go with the stick of divine truth and beat every bush behind which a sinner hides, until like Adam who hid, he stands before God in his nakedness." We must speak urgently to people around us because many are on their way to hell. We must confront sinners with the law and gospel, with death in Adam and life in Christ. Let us use every weapon we can to turn sinners from the road of destruction so they may, through grace, experience a living, experiential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. We know from Scripture and by experience that an omnipotent Christ can bless our efforts and rescue a dead sinner, divorce him from his sinful lusts, and make him willing to forsake his wicked ways and turn to God, fully resolved to make God his goal and his praise. Acts 5:31 says, "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Praise God for the experience of His amazing grace toward us in Christ.
Puritan Christopher Love's Day of Glorification
"At two o’clock in the afternoon on Friday, August 22, 1651, Christopher Love ascended the steps to the platform of the scaffold at Tower Hill. Accompanying him were some of his fellow ministers, Edmund Calamy, Simeon Ashe, and Thomas Watson, who were there to stand with him before he stepped into Paradise. The scaffold was surrounded by a huge crowd that had shown up either to see one last time the face of this beloved saint of God, or to watch this thorn in the side have his blood spilt. One report said that a particular man in the crowd who had come for the second reason, upon hearing the final words and prayer of Love he bewailed his sins and was converted there that day as Love died.
Upon receiving leave to speak to the crowd and to pray, Love opened his mouth and poured out his final words spoken on earth. With eloquent words he expressed his longing for the eternity that was to greet him shortly: “There is but two steps between me and glory. It is but lying down upon the block that I shall ascend upon a throne. I am exchanging a pulpit for a scaffold and a scaffold for a throne. I am exchanging a guard of soldiers for a guard of angels, to carry me to Abraham’s bosom."
He then went on to briefly answer the charges for which he was now being executed and explained his position. Love stated that he bore no ill toward any. With his last word he desired to speak of the glory of God rather than himself. Expressing his pastoral heart even at this point of death, he warned the peoples of the evils of the time and in London. To the city he urged them on to love their ministers, to submit to their church leadership, to keep faithful to the Scriptures and be weary of strange doctrines, to bewail the loss of the godly ministers who have recently been martyred, and to seek peace (particularly with the brothers of Scotland). Next, he expressed his love toward and gratitude for his congregation. Believing that his death would glorify God he said, “I do more good by my death that by my life, and glorify God more in my dying upon a scaffold than if I had died of a disease upon my bed.”
Giving glory to God, he recounted his conversion ant the age of fifteen and praised Him for the grace extended to him that he should be chosen to be His. Concluding his sermon he then requested and gained permission to pray. Love prayed for his accusers, for England and Scotland to be one, and for the future King Charles II. Also, he prayed for a friend who was to be executed after him. He closed by begging God for strength to complete his task in these final moments and by committing his spirit into the hands of God.
Love thanked the sheriff for his kindness and said, “Well, I go from a block to the bosom of my Savior.” Turning to another man on the scaffold he asked, “Art thou the officer?”
“Yes,” replied back the executioner. Love then tipped him three pence wrapped in paper, which was the custom to encourage the man to do a clean job with one blow. Blessing the name of Jesus, he then took leave of his fellow ministers on the scaffold with him after praying with them. “I am full of joy and peace in believing. I lie down with a world of comfort as if I were to lie down in my bed.”
As he prepared to lay his head upon the block Mr. Ashe called out to him, “Dear brother, how dost thou find thy heart?” Love replied, “I bless God, sir, I am full of joy and comfort as ever my heart can hold.”
Then Christopher Love uttered his final words, “Blessed be God for Jesus Christ” and knelt down and laid his head upon the block. He stretched forth his hands. The blade was raised and lowered. Christopher Love entered into Paradise and saw his Lord Jesus face to face. His head and his body, quickly put back together by the attending doctor, were put into a coffin and taken to his home, where he remained for three days."
Upon receiving leave to speak to the crowd and to pray, Love opened his mouth and poured out his final words spoken on earth. With eloquent words he expressed his longing for the eternity that was to greet him shortly: “There is but two steps between me and glory. It is but lying down upon the block that I shall ascend upon a throne. I am exchanging a pulpit for a scaffold and a scaffold for a throne. I am exchanging a guard of soldiers for a guard of angels, to carry me to Abraham’s bosom."
He then went on to briefly answer the charges for which he was now being executed and explained his position. Love stated that he bore no ill toward any. With his last word he desired to speak of the glory of God rather than himself. Expressing his pastoral heart even at this point of death, he warned the peoples of the evils of the time and in London. To the city he urged them on to love their ministers, to submit to their church leadership, to keep faithful to the Scriptures and be weary of strange doctrines, to bewail the loss of the godly ministers who have recently been martyred, and to seek peace (particularly with the brothers of Scotland). Next, he expressed his love toward and gratitude for his congregation. Believing that his death would glorify God he said, “I do more good by my death that by my life, and glorify God more in my dying upon a scaffold than if I had died of a disease upon my bed.”
Giving glory to God, he recounted his conversion ant the age of fifteen and praised Him for the grace extended to him that he should be chosen to be His. Concluding his sermon he then requested and gained permission to pray. Love prayed for his accusers, for England and Scotland to be one, and for the future King Charles II. Also, he prayed for a friend who was to be executed after him. He closed by begging God for strength to complete his task in these final moments and by committing his spirit into the hands of God.
Love thanked the sheriff for his kindness and said, “Well, I go from a block to the bosom of my Savior.” Turning to another man on the scaffold he asked, “Art thou the officer?”
“Yes,” replied back the executioner. Love then tipped him three pence wrapped in paper, which was the custom to encourage the man to do a clean job with one blow. Blessing the name of Jesus, he then took leave of his fellow ministers on the scaffold with him after praying with them. “I am full of joy and peace in believing. I lie down with a world of comfort as if I were to lie down in my bed.”
As he prepared to lay his head upon the block Mr. Ashe called out to him, “Dear brother, how dost thou find thy heart?” Love replied, “I bless God, sir, I am full of joy and comfort as ever my heart can hold.”
Then Christopher Love uttered his final words, “Blessed be God for Jesus Christ” and knelt down and laid his head upon the block. He stretched forth his hands. The blade was raised and lowered. Christopher Love entered into Paradise and saw his Lord Jesus face to face. His head and his body, quickly put back together by the attending doctor, were put into a coffin and taken to his home, where he remained for three days."