THE DEVIL'S LAST CARD PART 1

The Devil’s Last Card! Part 1

Mammon comes from the Greek word Mammonas which translates to money, wealth and material possessions.

Luke 16:13 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.

In the above verse Christ raises mammon to the status of a deity because of the way he is SERVED.

What I'm about to share will give you an insight into how mammon is worshipped... indeed how God is supposed to be worshipped.

The literal Greek meaning of the word SERVE (diakoneo) means:

I wait at table (particularly of a slave who waits on guests); I serve (generally).

This definition completely covers the scope of WHATEVER we do to earn money. We RENDER SERVICES in order to LIVE.

We focus all our ATTENTION on our 'guests' and give them ALL they want...we SATISFY them...

Like the definition says, we WAIT on our customers and clients...we wait for the REWARD of our services rendered.

Our clients and customers merely represent the REWARD...they therefore stand in proxy for the money we EARN.

I want to take a closer look at the word EARN...it means worthy of wages...wages are what we receive for WAITING...

Without wages we cannot survive for long...we are DEPENDENT on wages.

Yet we cannot be dependent on wages and on God at the same time. This is why we can't serve (or DEPEND) on God and mammon simultaneously.

The love of money is so powerful that it is described as the root or source of ALL evil!

1Titus 6:10 For the LOVE OF MONEY is the ROOT of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have ERRED FROM THE FAITH, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

This verse is very profound because it reveals that ALL the evil in this world has money as its foundation.

Evil includes whatever causes a believer to ERR from the faith. Usually it is a preoccupied with one's means of livelihood that causes this...they erred from the faith because they coveted money.

The Greek word for COVET - EPITHUMIO means:

To long for, covet, lust after, set the heart upon. These are the words that describe the love of money.

So money can be served or worshipped, same as God almighty, because it is LONGED FOR...One can SET HIS HEART on it...these terms - LONG FOR...SET MY HEART ON, are the very terms we use in singing songs of worship to God, except that with money it is DEMONSTRATED daily rather than put into song.

I have often wondered why Christ would elevate mammon to the deity...then I found out that the common denominator between God and mammon is the HEART.

Matt 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves TREASURES UPON EARTH, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Matt 6:20 But lay up for yourselves TREASURES IN HEAVEN, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21    For where your TREASURE is, THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO.

So you see...the very heart that we use to worship God is the same heart that we use to serve mammon.

The bible speaks of a LOVE OF MONEY, not as a thing of beauty but as a thing to be greatly desired for its ability to provide comfort, power, status in life and many other things.

So even though money is not a ‘living’ thing, it has the ability to provide material happiness and comfort.

So when the bible refers to the love of money, it refers to the love of the comforts and happiness it represents and can provide.

Money represents comfort, power and happiness. Its ‘DEITY  powers’ are inherent in the things it can provide for whoever SERVES it. It becomes in essence an idol!

 It is served by things one exchanges for it. The more things you can do or GIVE in exchange for it, the more of it you will get; and the lower one's  moral standards, the more things one is willing to do or give in exchange for it. Hence PEOPLE WILL DO ALMOST ANYTHING FOR MONEY!
That is pure worship!

The converse though, is not true...people will NOT do almost anything for God.

The rich young ruler found out that he could not leave his riches and follow Christ...his heart was fully attached to his wealth...many hearts are equally attached to their careers...their passions and jobs....they will do ALMOST ANYTHING to keep them...they are under the power of mammon.

This desperate  desire or NEED  for money is what the bible refers to as the love of money.

 Unlike the love of God which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit himself, the love of money is acquired by Self...it grows deceptively in little quantities, so that like the chameleon who is put in warm water that is very slowly boiling...one does not know when one finally becomes trapped and taken over entirely by the power of mammon, and so like the chameleon who finally gets boiled and realizes  it too late...one eventually ERRS FROM THE FAITH...

Man’s spirit serves or worships God; Man’s Self serves or worships Mammon. Service to God does not refer to ‘running errands for God’, but rather:

RO 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

It is in this very same way that we could also choose to present our bodies, talents, abilities and any other thing to Mammon as a living sacrifice! This is the service of either God or Mammon.

In a similar vein, the act of laying up treasures for ourselves on earth is the same process of laying up treasures for ourselves in heaven.

It reminds me of the parable of the rich fool who had stored so much in his barns that he had reached the point where he wanted to rest from his labours and enjoy his stored up riches.

Unfortunately his time on earth was also up coincidentally. The morale of the parable as Jesus gave it is:

Luke 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, AND IS NOT RICH  TOWARD GOD.

Notice that the Scripture verse does not categorically condemn laying up treasure, rather it condemns not laying it up towards God; not being rich towards God.

It is the first priority of the Believer to be rich toward God and not towards Self, but usually we tend to seek out the latter first before the former, or both at the same time, but lean more  towards Self.

We ought to heed Christ’s warning:

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a  man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

The priorities of the world are arranged in such a way that those who have the good things of life are regarded as the important people…the people who are successful.

However Jesus thought differently…he taught that a man’s life should not be arranged or centred on the abundance of the things he possesses.

It is obvious therefore what a man’s life should be centred around…it should be centred upon the things he possesses in Eternity…his treasures in heaven.

The truth is that we must begin to determine consciously the things that are truly valuable to us and the things that are not, for the things that are genuinely valuable to us will be the things around which our lives will always revolve…that is where our hearts will be.

Some people’s ‘valuables’ may be their careers, not money…or their talents…not necessarily material wealth…whatever it is, for as long as it is attached to the things of the earth, our lives will always revolve around earthly things.

I am only just beginning to understand the true import of spiritual things…that for spiritual things to become real to me, they must actually become valuable to me…beyond anything earth’s treasures have to offer!

1Cor 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

Paul is clear about the reason why not many of the world’s ‘successful’…’great’…’powerful’…or ‘wealthy’ people are called into the Kingdom.

IN THESE LAST HOURS OF OUR SOJOURN ON EARTH, POLARITIES WILL BEGIN TO SHIFT AND BECOME CLEARER…THE ALIGNMENTS IN FAVOUR OF GOD OR MAMMON WILL BECOME MORE PRONOUNCED…COMPROMISES WILL BE THE ORDER OF THE DAY FOR BELIEVERS, AND THE GRACE OF GOD WILL INCREASINGLY BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED…

MONEY IS BECOMING MORE VALUABLE AND THEREFORE MORE DEAR TO THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE…YET AT THE SAME TIME, ITS VALUE IS DECREASING…IT COSTS MORE TO BUY LESS…HENCE THE LIVES OF THOSE WHOSE HEARTS ARE CENTRED AROUND IT BECOME CHEAPER…THEY CAN AND WILL BE BOUGHT…

FOR NOW THEY ARE SERVANTS OF MAMMON…SOON THEY SHALL BECOME ITS SLAVES…AND FOR A PITTANCE…ANY SUM AT ALL…THEY WILL BE OWNED BY THOSE WHO ARE ITS REPRESENTATIVES….

PART 2 WILL FOLLOW….