Two Masters: God or Money

© 2014 Pastor Edmund Danilo Auguis. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/05/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9877-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9876-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9878-1 (e)

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1   The Etymology of Mammon

Chapter 2   Trusting God

Chapter 3   The Direct Opposite of Trust: Worry

Chapter 4   We Serve Whom we Trust

Chapter 5   We cannot serve two masters: God or Money

Chapter 6   Worship God and Serve Him Alone

Chapter 7   The Love of Money is the Root of All Kinds of Evil

Chapter 8   The Deceitfulness of Riches

Chapter 9   Integrity

Chapter 10 Contentment

Chapter 11 Greed

Chapter 12 Covetousness

Chapter 13 The Grace of Generosity

Chapter 14 Christian Stewardship

Chapter 15 Serving God Acceptably

Final Words

Appendix 1

About the Author

Dedication

To the children of God all over the world so as to have a resolve in their minds as to whom to serve or what they serve and not to worry on anything at all but seek the kingdom of God.

To the Christian believers in the Western countries, so you would find meaning and fulfilment in life by serving the God Most High, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

To my church in London and the branches in the Philippines, may this book encourage you in all things as you continue your journey and commitments in Him.

To my wife Annabelle and our children (Darlene Mae, Dan Jesse, Reuel, and Danielle Faye), may this book give you relief from the grief of not having my time and attention as often as you wanted.

To my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I always thank You for saving me from worthless living and enabling me to fulfil my purpose of existence.

To God be all the glory now and forever!

Introduction

When God created human beings, the Ten Commandments didn’t come with them. It took many generations later for God to deem the Ten Commandments necessary. The only commandment Adam and Eve had in the garden was not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’ (Gen 2:17)

If we take careful consideration of the Bible, when God gives a command, He is trying to prevent his creations from committing a sin. As in the case of Adam and Eve, theirs was not to eat the forbidden fruit, while ours, in the time of Moses until our generation, is not to worship other gods. This is the very reason why the first commandment He gave was for us not to have other gods (Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 5:7). The good thing with the Lord is when He created us He didn’t design us like robots which can be programmed; He gave us free will such that He Himself will not override our decisions if we don’t want to obey. This is a very important point for us to understand as without this free will, we cannot consider ourselves to have obeyed His commands. We have the choice to obey or not and will be answerable for its consequences.

So when God commanded us not to have other gods, He already saw the tendencies of our hearts to worship those gods instead of worshipping Him alone. Obviously the Ten Commandments were given after the Israelites’ exile from Egypt where they were heavily influenced by the lives of the people who oppressed them. Psychologically speaking, the oppressed desire the lives of the oppressors. Although His people had idols long before their stay in Egypt (see Genesis 31:30, 35:2) the idea of having gods came to its worst in Egypt. The word gods appeared four times only in Genesis and then in Exodus 12:12 where God was against all the gods of Egypt. Apparently He wanted His people not to influenced by the Egyptians; thus, He gave them the commandments. In fact, the ten plaques in Egypt represent their gods.

My point here is that every single one of us has the tendency to worship other gods and it is not limited to images as most of us think but it could be anything or somebody. Although the kingdom of darkness led by satan (I chose to keep it small letter) tries to deceive us and persuade us in every way possible to drift away from worshipping the only One, True, and Living God, Jesus didn’t say we cannot serve God or satan, neither did He say the root of all evil is satan. He clearly said, We cannot serve two masters – God and money. Of course, Christians these days would be confident enough to say they don’t serve satan but unconsciously serve money, which equates to serving him (satan). In other words, satan has been subtle in his ways always. Since he cannot make most people worship and serve him, he diverted them from serving God to serve money.

It is my desire to study and share this subject matter for us to stop for a while from our busy schedules and routines and think, consider, evaluate ourselves, and answer this serious question – whom do you serve, God or money?

Before you give a quick answer for that, consider this fact when you pray in the morning or even in the evening. For most of us, especially in the Western area, we only say a short prayer as we are rushing to go to work and in the evening, again another short prayer because we are tired from work. We spent thirty-five to forty hours a week at work but struggle to achieve an hour of prayer or an hour listening to His words.

Jesus’s word is clear that we cannot serve two masters – God and money – for we will be loyal to the one and despise the other (Matthew 6:24). Unfortunately, the majority of us are loyal to work and unfaithful to God. You might want to argue with that but unless it is a serious matter we go to work by all means without considering how tired we are, how good or bad the weather is, and how long we stay there, while on Sundays we drag ourselves out of bed, always tired, always finding something else to do without consideration if we come late to services or how many absences we have had. These practices are not being done at work but only towards God.

Actually, the number one reason why people say they cannot attend church services is their work. Isn’t it sad? Of course it is. People can’t be bothered to make adjustments to their schedule or rosters from work when it comes to church conflicts but when it comes to parties and holidays they will arrange changes of shifts or swap their schedules to be available for such occasions.

The list could go on really. Instead of simply believing God’s Word to seek first His kingdom and live on His righteousness and that all these things shall be added unto us (Matthew 6:33), we prefer to work, comfortable at work even on Sundays, and neglect our duties to God to make His day holy because this is a fact that we cannot hide, we serve money rather than God.

May the Lord enlighten our minds and convict us in this area of our life so that at the end of our study we will be able to offer our lives unto Him as a living sacrifice, as an act of worship, and as a reasonable service (Romans 12:1).

Let God be God in your life.

I invite you to join me in prayer,

Father God, in the Name of Your Son Jesus, we approach before your throne to obtain help in times of need. May Your Spirit search my heart and reveal any iniquity by bringing into my attention the areas I need to confront, change, and be determined to worship You and serve You alone. Help me to accept Your Word as real and true so I can believe it and seek Your Kingdom first and live on Your righteousness. In so doing my needs will be met for you are indeed my Abba Father and my Provider, Amen.

(If you haven’t prayed the prayer of acceptance yet or are not sure of your salvation, please be guided and do so by referring to Appendix 1).

Chapter 1

The Etymology of Mammon

The word mammon appears only four times in the Bible and only in the KJV and New King James Version of it. In other translations, money is the word being used in a personified sense. In the same way, calling somebody Judas means that he is a betrayer. According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary, mammon it is a common Aramaic word for riches, akin to a Hebrew word signifying to be firm, steadfast (whence Amen), hence, that which is to be trusted. In simple terms it signifies the trust placed on riches.

The root word for mammon is mamonas, which is a masculine noun that means confidence, i.e., wealth personified as opposed to God (Strong’s G3126).

Mammon is also a Syriac word, a name given to an idol worshipped as the god of riches. It has the same meaning as plutus among the Greeks. It also means riches, avarice, and worldly gain personified as a false god in the New Testament. Often, mammon is material wealth regarded as having an evil influence. Money is not bad and we all need it but when it involves wickedness in obtaining and possessing it, it becomes God’s best rival for our service.

The Lord God is the creator of heaven and the earth and He gives us life, breath, and everything (Acts 17:24–25). This would also mean that He is the God of our health and wealth as there is no other. Hence every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of lights (God). To trust or worship other gods like mammon is a direct insult and blasphemy to Him because He is the God of everything. There is no such prayer or need that He couldn’t give to us. Out of nothing He created all things that the things we can see were not made from things that can be seen (Hebrews 11:3). In fact, He created the heaven and the earth without any materials but His Word. He only spoke, ‘Let there be light and there was light’ (Genesis 1:3).

In contrast, although they have brilliant minds, the inventors of our day still need materials for their inventions to happen. They don’t simply speak and cause their inventions to exist. For example, the Wright brothers who invented the airplane had a breakthrough when they developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although they were not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing, powered flight possible. The brothers’ fundamental breakthrough was their invention of three-axis control, which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. So they didn’t just manage to fly a machine but also allowed the pilot to have control of it. But still, they are not gods of planes. They are not the inventors of the fluorescent bulb, the telephone, the television, the ship, and the rest of inventions as the list is endless. We could not trust them when it comes to anything aside from the airplane.

What makes the Lord a true God could be explained by His three major attributes.

First, He is omnipresent – in all places at the same time. He is in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in the Philippines, in Africa. He is everywhere. This attribute should allow us to make wise decision as to whom to pray to. Why would we pray to somebody who could not hear us or is not around? God doesn’t need to set a voicemail to our calls because He is literally present everywhere. Hence, we don’t have to go to a particular mountain, building, church, place, or travel to reach Him.

Secondly, He is omniscient – all knowing; nothing is beyond His knowledge, awareness, and consciousness. In fact, before we pray He already knows our prayer and therefore we should not make it lengthy and repetitive. Compared to idols, which have ears but cannot hear, hands but cannot do anything, eyes but cannot see, God knows everything, even the thoughts and intents of our hearts.

Thirdly, He is omnipotent – all powerful. His power is not limited in a single area or aspect but is in everything. There is nothing too hard for Him, nothing impossible with Him, and the things impossible to men are possible for Him. He is the God of all ages; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The works He has done during creation He can still do today. In fact, faith is not believing that God can do it but believing He will do it. He is in control of all things. He can raise the dead back to life; He has done it before and His power is undiminished. This is why He sent lions, which devoured some of the inhabitants of Samaria as they acknowledged the Lord as the God of the land only instead addressing Him as the God of all the earth (2 Kings 17:25–27). He is not only the God of the land but of all the nations, tribes, places, cities, and the whole heaven and earth. There is no inch below heaven and above the earth in which He is not God.

It is so when it comes to our needs and provision. People in the Old Testament and of our days are no different. They have so many idols and so we are (See Deuteronomy 6:14, 13:7; Galatians 4:8). Today there are those people who pray to certain gods when it comes to farming and harvest, before taking exams, if they want to have a baby, for business, etc.. They trust these gods and not the Lord. Because the Lord is the God of all the earth and in everything, we can trust Him in everything, including money and wealth.

Since mammon involves evil influence, whether in the way we trust his falseness as a god in asking for it or upon having them, moral principle is essential. If God is our provider as a Father and in some cases He withholds financial blessings; there must be a reason behind this witholding. To cite an example, in Matthew 16:1–4, the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to test Jesus by asking Him to give them a sign. He replied to them by saying a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and He didn’t gave them any except the sign of Jonah, and then left them. You might ask, ‘How about Gideon then?’ He asked two signs in Judges 6:36–40 regarding the dew on the fleece and then vice versa. The Lord gave him the sign and even a bonus one in Judges 7:9–14 when an enemy was telling his dream to his comrade regarding the sword of Gideon. Let me make this clear, asking for a sign is not bad at all as long as we believe it when it is given. Unlike Gideon, those Pharisees and Sadducees who asked Jesus for a sign would not believe Him even if He had given them signs because they had already seen a lot. They were not ignorant of the fact that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them (Matthew 11:4–5), and yet they were still asking for a sign. This is why they were considered wicked and adulterous.

Remember that the Lord is looking into our heart when we ask for a sign. He knows our heart although it is most deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). Before things happen He knows them already. He allowed them to happen not in order for Him to know us but to let us know who we truly are. Sometimes He does not give the money we ask for because He knows our trust is not on Him really but on mammon. He knows we would go somewhere else if we could not get what we want from Him. This is what happened to King Saul although it wasn’t about money but revelation. First Samuel 28:6–7 tells us that Saul didn’t get an answer from the Lord either by dreams, by Urim or by the Prophets, so he went and looked for a medium and inquired from her. Could this be the very reason why God doesn’t give us the money we ask for, because He knows that if we don’t get it from Him we will go somewhere else? Are we not behaving like Saul when it comes to money? When our prayers remain unanswered and He prefers not to provide us the money we need, do we still trust Him and His Word? Do we still maintain a firm reliance on God’s integrity and character or His faithfulness? In fact, a very common verse most of us are aware of (if we don’t memorize it) is Hebrews 13:5: ‘God will never leave us nor forsake us’, but we forget to include the preceding statement that says, ‘Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said’, (NIV). In short, the context of this verse is not trials regarding our health or fear of our enemies, as we usually construe it, but rather our lack of money and our need to be content with what we have. In times of scarcity, when we have nothing to pay our bills, when we are tempted to borrow from others, and when we badly need money, this should be the appropriate occasion to quote Hebrews 13:5.

Name Significance

Giving names to a child at birth in the Bible plays a significant role and meaning. Unlike these days, when we just take names from popular celebrities, from famous government officials, or from whoever else. I remember a priest who was surprised when the parents wanted their child to be named Suzuki. He asked them why this particular name. They replied that it was because their neighbour’s name was Mercedes so why can’t they have Suzuki? Not arguing, the priest asked them what to use in baptizing their child, petrol or diesel? It may sound odd or unrealistic but my point here is that we don’t give meaning to names these days. For instance, Sarai’s name (which means distress)was changed to Sarah, meaning mother of many princess. Her son was named Isaac, which means laughter. From the distress of being barren, now that she bore a child, she could laugh with her friends, as she herself knows Abraham was old enough to do the business with her, and yet God blessed her with a son. The name Jacob (grabber), who grabbed his brother’s feet at birth and stole Esau’s birth right and their father’s blessing before Isaac died, was changed to Israel (triumph), because he wrestled and triumphed from God and obtained the blessing.

In like manner, money is personified as a false god of riches called mammon wherein he becomes the number one rival to God relating our service. So when dilemmas come between God and money, righteousness and wickedness, and good and evil, the Bible is clear that we cannot serve both of them. Obtaining one means losing the other, as they are contrary to each other, just like faith and fear. The beginning of fear is the end of faith. Instead of trusting mammon, we are admonished to put our trust in the Lord with all our heart (Proverbs 3:5). We will look more closely at this in the next chapter.

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

— 1 Timothy 6:17

Challenge:

• Do you have the firm reliance on God’s word that He will do as He says?

• Do you still trust God even if He chooses not to provide for your financial needs?

• When you don’t get answers to your prayers, how do you behave in terms of prayer and obedience?

• Are you not involved in any form of wickedness in obtaining your needs?

• Do you trust the Lord with all your heart regardless of your circumstances?

• When prosperity comes on you, do you remain faithful in the Lord?

Chapter 2

Trusting God

Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.

—Jeremiah 17:7 (NIV)

We have learned from the previous chapter that mammon signifies trust placed in riches. In this chapter we will focus on trusting God in a way that we will love Him and serve Him. Obedience to God’s Word and serving Him are the best proof that we trust Him. To trust God means to have a firm reliance on His integrity and character or to have confidence in Him. Trust and confidence constitute faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, ‘We have faith in God if we believe on the things we cannot see and on the things we hope for.’ To believe means ‘to accept as true or real’. In essence we can have a firm reliance on His integrity and character because we accept His Word as true or real even if we don’t see them happening. For most of us, it is easy to confess that we believe in Him but not all those who say they believe in Him have the firm reliance on His Word. Probably this is because we don’t understand what is meant by