Your Money Or Your Life

A Storm is approaching

As it stands, according to our Lord Jesus Christ, we are about to witness a scenario where Christian authorities will agree with the world that everyone should proceed with religion, all religion, without messing thing up with Jesus Christ.

We are looking at a time where there will be unanimous agreement to worship God apart from Christ. A global consensus to level things up by removing the one who seems to standout and apart. The only one who claims to be both God and Man. That way, we have an equal playing field; one where everyone agrees that God is faraway, mute, untouchable and invisible. But most importantly, everyone will agree that no body really knows and hence no one can nor should really care if he is even there.

In an effort to consolidate and unite the world’s economy, world leaders, including those of the Christian religion, will attack the only dividing factor in history — the one who says he did not come to bring peace but a sword — Jesus Christ. The same one who declared war with the spirit of covetousness— Mammon.

On the other hand, we will witness a scenario where His disciples will fearlessly live and walk in the light that comes from understanding that God is in and through Jesus Christ ONLY, and in Him, THE MAN Christ Jesus ONLY, consists all things LIFE, and in his NAME ALONE is True and Eternal Authority — The Authority of the Righteous and Most high God.

Therefore, we are about to witness a very fierce CONFLICT. Because the name of Jesus is about to be directly tied to the status of the world’s economy, where he will officially be considered by politics, religion, academia and commerce to be a threat to the success and prosperity of this world. Actually, they will be correct to think so, for truly he is a threat, not only to their ENTIRE way of life and value system, but most importantly, the sole threat to their god Mammon.

Up until now, this position has only been held in the dark, propagated via murmur, and circulated by a bunch of not so powerful individuals as personal propositions and opinions, but none has been able to drive a movement off of it. Some have tried in the past but have never been able to sustain it. But over time, this sentiment — which rises from the pride and hate of Satan for both the Father and the Son— has grown into a very deep longing in the souls of the world’s leadership to see a world free of Jesus Christ — the Apostle John lets us know that “now are there are many anti-christ”. Anyone following can already smell the gas. All that is needed as we speak, is a spark, someone to strike the match.

That someone is coming…

…the Son of perdition as the scriptures describe him, he will successfully make the the anti-christ train move. He will be emboldened enough to make a convincing and compelling economic argument against Christ and His Church on both the political and the religious platforms. He will endorse the current murmur, and it will coalesce around him. He will be the face and voice of the anti-christ movement, because he is THE Anti-Christ — the son of perdition, whose coming is after the working of the wicked one. He will strike the match in the midst of the fume and start the fire of persecution against our Lord Christ and his bride. One which will end with the return of the one whom they seek to eliminate.

The fight will precisely be about two opposing choices, the very same which every basic robber offers — Your Money or your Life. Yes! The thief of John’s gospel, chapter 10, will offer the same choice to everybody on earth — YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE.

Choose you this day, who is your God?

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.

— The Lord Jesus Christ in Matt 6:24

In an effort to consolidate and unite the world’s economy, world leaders, including those of the Christian religion, will attack the only dividing factor in history — the one who says he did not come to bring peace but a sword — Jesus Christ.

Who is Mammon?

9) And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

10) 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.

11) If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

12) And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?

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.

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

— The Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 16:9–14

The Lord here used the term ‘mammon’ in two distinct but related lights:

1. The unrighteous mammon — temporal possessions which, according to Him, in another place and time, will be destroyed by moth and rot.
2. Mammon — The father and god of covetousness, AKA Satan, and goes by the name Lucifer, who through the same deception by which he himself had been deceived, rules over men whom he has thus caused to believe as he did, that life in essence consists in the abundance of the things(unrighteous mammon) that they possess.

How do we know this is what Christ was saying?

Pretty straight forward, but let’s do it step by step.

1st, The unrighteous mammon:

Verses 11 tells us that the opposite of the unrighteous mammon are the “true riches”. That about defines to us what the unrighteous mammon is — false riches, also called vanity(that which is not eternal).

2nd, Mammon:

Verse 13 tells us that mammon is served by a person, as opposed to them serving God. In other words, mammon is basically the god opposed to God and he seeks to have for himself, the worship and service that is due the one whom our Lord calls the only True God — even the same who is his Father.

Hence, a person(angel or human) who does not serve God, does so because they serve mammon, and vice versa.

Verse 14 tells why our King described him by the title “mammon”: the reaction of the Pharisees, that’s why. Their reaction shows us the exact nerve or spirit that the Lord had struck with that statement in verse 13.

So here is what happened there

These pharisees would have everyone believe that they serve only the God of Israel and no other, whilst actually serving mammon, even though God had explicitly said “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”.

However, the Lord Jesus, according to the Spirit of Truth, revealed that “YOU CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON”, you must have to hold to the one and despise the other. In hearing this bitter truth, they became furious with Him. Why? Well, surely not because of the God part of the dichotomy, for that was who they already claimed to be serving. The mammon part, that’s the one they were mad about.

Sure, they got him loud and clear, He was emphatically saying that if they really wanted to serve God, they will have to hate, despise and discard mammon period!

But here’s the twist; That verse 14 says they derided him because they were what? COVETOUS. Bingo! So The lord calls out mammon, and guess who answers? Covetousness. GOTCHA!

What does this mean? Well it means Mammon is simply the package label for the spirit of covetousness WHO in reality, according to our Lord Jesus Christ, is THE LIE that a man’s life consists in the abundance of the things he possesses.

13) And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance(unrighteous mammon — false riches) with me.

14) And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?

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 Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 12:13-15

To put that in more plain terms, it reads thus:

“Take heed, and beware of the notion, the lie that your life consists in the abundance of the things(unrighteous mammon) you own.”

— The Lord Jesus Christ

Pay attention please!

This spirit — covetousness, is a person, and when the Lord says he is THE LIE, he is referring to his very nature. There is only one who according to The Truth, is The LIE, he is none other than the devil himself. How do we know this?

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own (he speaks from his nature): for he is a liar(its who he is), and the father of it.

— The Lord Jesus Christ in John 8:44

According to Him, the devil is not just a liar, far before that, he is first and foremost THE LIE (who he is) and then the father of it (the basic substance of darkness and the very fountain head of all lies). That is why he lies ALL the time.

So we have the following clearly established by the Lord:

1. “Mammon” is the description label for the spirit of covetousness.
2. He(Covetousness) is thus described as “mammon” because the object of covetousness is the mammon of unrighteousness — temporal/false riches
3. Covetousness himself, is the personified expression of the Lie that the essence of life is the abundance of temporal or false riches — just like Forbes will have us all believe.

Thanks to Christ the Truth, we now know both what and who Mammon is: Covetousness = Lie = Satan = The prince of the kingdom of darkness and the god of this world.

We get the picture? We now know who is speaking when ever that desire for false wealth arises inside us. We know who speaks when the preacher elevates temporal riches in front of us on the same spot where the True riches — that which can be found ONLY in the heart and nature of the Son of God — should be glorified. We now know who speaks to us directly from that bill board, TV or internet Ad glorifying every fantasy this world can afford.

YOU NOW KNOW WHO.

So what does mammon have to do with this Anti-christ man?

Everything!

Understanding mammon, is the foundation of understanding both the person and the system of the anti-christ. Without this understanding, we will have no anchor and hence get blown away in the deception storm that has already begun. Therefore, it was CRITICAL for us to begin with The foundation, — that which Christ(the Truth) teaches — else all we have is what Satan(the Lie) wants us to know about the subject.

Anti-christ — son of perdition

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

— The Lord Jesus Christ in John 17:12

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

— The Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–4

A lot to unpack here, and just like before, we will simply follow the Lord step by step.

The first passage we read, in John 17:12, the Lord speaks of the “son of perdition”, referring to Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

Then in the second passage, His apostle Paul also speaks of the “son of perdition” referring to the man of Sin — the anti-christ.

Does this mean that the man of sin or anti-christ is Judas Iscariot? Nah! That’s not the point we are trying to make here.

Here is the point

The same title — “son of perdition” is used to describe both men. Why is this so? Simple, it is used to highlight the reality that these two men share a common CORE VALUE: both serve the same master — MAMMON, who is no other than Satan himself, the prince of darkness, father of lies and ruler of this dark world.

Therefore, both of them are deeply rooted in the following lies from their father and master:

• That the life of a man is valued on the basis of the abundance of the mammon of unrighteousness they possess.
• That Mammon(Satan) is more valuable than Life(The Christ of God).
• That when faced with the choice between God and Mammon, their loyalty must go to him Mammon, even as their hatred and spite goes to God.

The entire life of these two brothers derives from and is defined by the above perceptions which they both inherited from their father the devil. And by the grace of God, we are going to see how.

Judas

Who is he? Well, he is the apostle of the Lord who waltzed up to the pharisees and blatantly traded His Master Christ for another Master Mammon. Period.

And who inspired him?

And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

— The Apostle John in John 13:27

SATAN ENTERED INTO HIM!

So two masters were set before him: Christ vs Mammon(Satan) and he chose the latter. And how did Mammon have him? By offering him silver, a piece of false wealth, and fooled him just like he has done the world, to believe that his life consists in a bag of silver, and not in the ONLY one who is the Life. He was sold out to Mammon’s covetousness — the lie that a man’s life and value is measured in silver and gold, and so when it came down to his money or his Life(Christ), he chose Satan and rejected Christ.

Notice that for this separation to be possible, the options had to be rendered as an irreconcilable dichotomy — either Christ or Silver, not both. Just like the Pharisees attempted to rather have both, but Christ angered them by squarely stating the sharp and irreconcilable dichotomy — YE CANNOT SERVE BOTH, Judas would also rather have both Christ and silver, at least so had he attempted to do all the while he followed Jesus around Galilee, whilst at the same time fighting him over the purse and over costly perfumes. All the time trying to serve both God and Mammon.

Both masters made it and still make it clear to their would-be followers: “It is either me or him” choose. God through his Son, tells the Pharisees “You have to choose”, and Satan tells Judas, “you have to choose”.

In the coming days ahead, WE ALL will be compelled by both these masters to choose between OUR MONEY OR OUR LIVES.

And just like the Pharisees and Judas who thought they could serve both masters, we in the church are also currently walking the lie of thinking we can simultaneously serve God and gold. We are currently trying to have both masters share our hearts and pulpits even as we keep pretending to toggle between the desire for false prosperity and a powerless form of godliness, when all we are actually doing is trying to hang out with Christ whilst fighting him over the purse and costly perfumes.

But oh! just like Judas who finally had to choose, we will ALL be made to choose one — pure devotion to Jesus Christ or total submission to Mammon. And that, right there, is where the other son of perdition comes in.

The Man of Sin — AKA “anti-christ”

In the part two of this series, we examine this individual and how he will be affecting our very lives in the very near future.

You can get notified of part two by simply clicking on the follow button.