Creflo Dollar - How To Walk Free From Mammon
If you have your bibles go with me to the book of Luke, the book of Luke chapter 16 and verse 10. The book of Luke chapter 16 and verse 10. Just for a little review, wanna get everybody on the same page and then we'll begin to talk about, 'How To Walk Free From The Spirit Of Mammon'. You know, we have a very interesting time right now. We have a time where people are thinking in ways that don't line up with the Word, we have a time where you know, folks are not really interested in God or the church, but I tell you what, I think we're right in the middle of a revival getting ready to hit. I think a move of God's gonna hit the earth that we've never seen before, amen. So when people are saying, "These are sad times," I'm saying out loud, "These are great times," amen. Praise God.
Let's begin in Luke chapter 16 and let's read verse 10 through 14 out loud together ready, read. "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. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? 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". Verse 14, "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him". Or began to mock him because of what was being said.
Now, remember when I said if you'll go back to verse 10 that the application of a scripture, is based on the context of that scripture. In other words, if you wanna get involved in heresy, just start lifting things out of its context and just saying anything. And that's basically what's happened with religion, we take a verse of scripture, lift it up out of its context, and then just supply it in some kinda I don't know, some kinda religious way or emotional way, but if you lose the context and then you try to define the scripture out of its context, it could mislead people. It could create the wrong perspective of a doctrine. And so when we look at this verse of scripture in verse 10, when Jesus talks about being faithful to the least, if you're not careful you'll just say, "Well the least is a category that you can just apply to anything".
You can say, "Well, you know, unless you're faithful with a little authority, then you won't be trusted with much authority". That's true, but that's not what Jesus was talking about here in context. The context of Luke chapter 16 again, was talking about a steward who was not faithful with his lord's money, and he just began to talk about that this unfaithful steward who was mismanaging the money of somebody else, a steward is someone who oversees the goods and riches property of another person. And they found out he was mismanaging those goods. And so he continued to mismanage it he went to some guys and he said, "You know how much do you owe my master"? And they gave him a price and he cut 'em a deal on each one continued to mismanage it see. And then Jesus comes right in the middle of the context of a steward, showing that he could not be trusted with his master's goods, and in verse 10 he says, "Now in light of what I just showed you, he that is faithful in that which is least".
So now he gives a name to the context where it used money. The steward was not faithful with money. The steward continued to not be faithful with money. So in verse 10, he calls money the least. Can you see that? He calls money the least. "He that is faithful in that which is least," referring to the money that this unfaithful steward demonstrated that he couldn't be trusted in. "He that is faithful in the least," or he that is faithful with money, "Is faithful also in much" so he says here, that I can tell if I can trust you with much based on how you handle watch this, the money. See now here's what we looked at because we didn't see it in context. We said you know, I can tell you can be trusted with much, based on whether or not you can be trusted with little. That's true, that's true and eventually he's gonna come make a comparison with that later on, but Jesus here is trying to show you, that the least in context here is money.
So when he says you can't be trusted with much 'cause you can't be trusted with least, what he says is, if you can't be trusted with money, which is the least, it can't be the much 'cause he just said it's the least. If you can't be trusted with money which is the least, then neither can you be trusted with the much that's everything else, because you can't be trusted with money. Now, church and religious folks, they don't wanna say money because everybody and a mama, who go to church and hadn't heard this kinda stuff, "No that ain't money, that ain't money what money got to do with it"? And I'm gonna show you today, that it is the center focus of whether or not your life is gonna take off influenced by God, or whether your life is gonna take off being influenced by mammon. It's now it's a big deal now and I'm getting ready to show you.
And I'm getting ready to show you, not because I'm after your money. I don't need your money, I trust God. I'm trying to get you to trust God so you don't have to suck up to nobody, because you trust God. Excuse me, I shouldn't have used that word, but praise the Lord, I'm excited but we gonna eat here today. It's gonna start raining real hard the closer I get to that revelation so you bind it in the name of Jesus, amen. All right, so "He that is faithful in that which is least," he that is faithful with money, "Is faithful also in much". Healing, deliverance, ministry, all those other things. "And he that is unjust with," money or "The least is unjust also in the much". So he says, I can tell everything I need to know about you, all I need to do is see how you handle money. All I need to do, is see how you handle money. You know what? Jesus did that.
Mark chapter 12, the Bible says, "He was sitting and looking in the treasury as they gave to see how they handled money". And after he looked he said, "Rich people here gave much, but there was a woman here who gave two mites". And he said, "This day this woman gave more than all of those who gave". Well you know he wasn't talking about who gave more money than the rich men because she only had two mites. What was he talking about? That this woman gave more in trust, than all of them. And that's the issue here, the issue in the New Testament why is Jesus talking so much about the subject? The issue in the New Testament is an issue of, will you trust God? Why did he talk so much about money almost 68 times? Why did he talk so much about money in New Testament? Will you trust God?
There's something else out there, that's trying to work for your trust and if you give it your trust, it'll ruin your life. And Jesus loves you so much that he's saying, "Trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me". And he continues to use all these illustrations about money and showing you, "Trust me, don't trust the money, trust me, don't trust the money". So what is he saying here? Well go to the next verse. Verse 11 says this, "If therefore you have not been faithful or trustworthy in unrighteous mammon," now here's the situation here. He uses the word mammon in fact, Jesus uses the word mammon about four times in the New Testament. And each time he uses the word mammon, he's specifically referring to, the name of the Syrian God of mammon and riches, that was in Babylon. In Babylon, they were driven by the spirit of mammon and were giving an unhealthy relationship with the material world.
So when Jesus said, "Mammon," he wasn't specifically just talking about money. I mean listen, if he was just talking about money, why didn't he just use the word least, that's what he started with? Why not just saying, "If therefore ye have not been faithful with the least," why does he use the word mammon? Because he's saying something much more than money and what he is saying is this, he is saying, the spirit of mammon on money causes you to be unfaithful. The spirit of mammon. Now in most translations you will see the word mammon translated riches, okay? But he was saying much more than riches. He was talking and referring to, see the first time mammon was the name of the Syrian God of riches.
So if you go back to the very origin of that word, it was the name of the Syrian God of riches. But now as it came forward in time, we just kinda deduced it down to being well, mammon equals money and then over the years we just read it like that, even I've done that. "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous" money, no, he's saying more than money. He's saying, when mammon is in the picture, when mammon is the influencer, then it will be in opposition to what God is doing. Mammon is a demonic spirit. Mammon is a wicked, demonic spirit, that tries to get you to come to the point in your life where you will say, "I don't trust God, I don't need God, because I have money as the substitute".
Let me read some things I wrote down I wanna make sure you get this. The spirit of mammon is a spirit of Satan who tries to seduce us by getting us to put money before God, and a desire to pursue wealth as a primary purpose or goal. The spirit of mammon wants to influence us in opposition to God and in opposition to God's Word, until we say, and think, and believe, that we don't need God, and we don't trust God, because we have money or we have stuff. That's the spirit of mammon, the wicked spirit of mammon that's trying to seduce you away from God and what he says is, I'm going to seduce you away from God, to believing that money can take care of all your needs. Now, yesterday I asked the Lord, I said, "Now why do we find mammon dealing with money"? All right now listen to me very carefully. If you go to verse 13 we just read it, he says, "You gonna have to decide, you know, who's gonna be your master, it's gonna be God or it's gonna be what? Mammon".
Now, remember the other day, and I've got to keep showing you this because I don't want you going out here and making money your enemy. You know, money is not your enemy. This money, if I take this money right here and put it on the steps, that money by itself is neither good or bad. That's not good or bad. Now, if you who are under the influence of mammon, decide to come pick this money up, this money is now under the same influence that you're influenced by, and you will now treat and deal and use this money under mammon's influence and mammon says, it says, "Keep, and cheat, and steal, and do whatever you have to do to get more of it". But, if this money all by itself is there, but you're under God's influence and you come pick this up, then all of a sudden this money is under God's influence, and under God's influence, what does it say? It says, "Give and it shall be given unto you".
That's what God says influence of God says, "Give and it shall be given unto you". So money is not the issue. Listen to this, scripture this is what people use all the time tell me if you've heard this, "Money is the root of all evil". How many of you heard a say it like that? Do you know that's nowhere in the Bible? But of course, most of the stuff people saying in the Bible, these are people who are quoting scriptures, who have never read the Bible. You know, they just heard what somebody said. Money is not the root of all evil. Now here's the trick he's trying to do with Christians. Money is the root of all evil so now you're afraid of it.
Now you think it's evil. Now you think, well I wanna avoid ever being successful financially because, I heard that money will mess your life up. No, it ain't the money that's messing your life up, it's mammon that's messing your life up because it's telling you to do wrong things with money. No, God wants Christian people to be blessed financially. Abraham was blessed financially, wasn't he? Isaac was blessed financially, wasn't he? Solomon was one of the richest men in all the world, right? So the money wasn't the devil. It's all right for you to have some of it. "Well, I don't believe that". You're lying, 'cause if that were the truth, then you wouldn't have a job. You do more on Monday morning than you do on Sunday mornings. You're more committed to things on Monday morning than you do on Sunday. And you say, "Oh I don't worship money, I worship God". Then how come the spirit of mammon, has gotten you to do more than what God is able to get you to do on some occasions? Are you listening to me?
And so, when he talks about this issue of mammon and Jesus talks about it, what Jesus is trying to say to you is, "You're going to have to make a choice because there is a demonic spirit loose that will try to get you in a place and will use money to get you to think that money can meet all of your needs". Now why is he doing this? Why has Satan decided to choose money to use it this way? Now, you remember when he was kicked out of heaven, Isaiah 14 says, "I will be like the most high God". That is his objective, is to be like God, all right? Now, watch this. So how many of you know God, if you trust him, God will release an anointing to remove every burden and destroy every yoke in your life? How many know that anointing on your life will allow you to do what you couldn't do before he put it on your life?
Somebody says, "What is the anointing? Is the anointing jerking"? No, that's not the anointing. "Is the anointing falling out"? No, that's not the anointing. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we've misdefined the anointing as the jerk, or the holler, or the dance, no, that's not the anointing. "Oh he's anointed". No, no, no the anointing removes burdens and destroy yokes so that means if you can sing, but you give me a headache every time you sing, that's not the anointing. The anointing removes headaches, glory to God. So you can't get up talking about you're anointed to sing, and we get a headache the whole church get a headache when you sing. That is not the anointing, the anointing removes burdens, it destroys yokes. So what is the anointing? The anointing, glory to God, excuse me, I just kinda felt something there. Not that we live by our feelings, but every now and then I can appreciate a good chill bump, amen.
The anointing is God's ability on your ability, giving you ability, to do what you could not do, before he put his ability on your ability. The anointing is God putting his super on your natural, causing you to be supernatural. Oh my goodness. The anointing if you can naturally teach, then when he anoints you, the word anoint, means to rub on or to rub into. Well, if I were to anoint your head with oil, if you are a good teacher just naturally a good teacher, if he puts his anointing on your teaching, you've gone from just being a good teacher in the natural, to a supernatural teacher. He puts his anointing on mechanics, and the mechanics can figure out things that normal mechanics can't figure out. There's an anointing that's available in these last days, and it's the anointing factor that the devil has forgotten all about. He's trying to figure out how are we gonna do what we do in the last days.
Child of God I prophesy there's an anointing getting ready to hit your house. God's getting ready to anoint your natural, and you're getting ready to operate in the supernatural, and people are gonna ask, "How did you do that"? And you'll say, "It's the anointing of the Holy Ghost that's enabled me to do what I'm doing". Somebody say, "I receive that anointing right now". That anointing from God, will remove burdens and destroy yokes. I don't know what yoke you might have around your life right now, but when that anointing, when you receive that anointing, somebody says, "When can I receive it"? You say you can receive it right now. You ain't gotta wait on nothing special to happen, he's already released it praise God, all you gotta do is take it, praise God. Shout out loud, "I'm anointed".
Somebody says, "How are you gonna say that"? 'Cause the anointed one lives on the inside of you. The day you got born again, the Holy Ghost moved on the inside of you, so that river of living water flowing out of your belly, getting on your natural hallelujah, causing you to do what a natural man can't do by himself. You'll outdo a guy with three PhD's, and God came and anointed you glory to God, and now you are above. There's nothing in the natural that cannot do the anointing. So now Satan wants him something like that. Like God has anointing that can meet all of your needs, remove your burdens and destroy yokes, watch this now, money, is that anti-anointing. Like the anointing from God, money, is that imposter anointing. Satan says, "Well, I'm gonna use money like God uses the anointing, and if I can convince people that money can remove their burdens and destroy their yokes, if I can convince people that money can meet all of their needs".
See Satan always is looking for something to be the opposite of what God has. Fear is the opposite of faith. You understand what I'm saying? Like God needs faith to cause things to be in your life, Satan needs fear to cause things to be in your life, and the thing you fear the most will come on you, and the thing you have faith in the most will come upon you. God wants you to praise him and things will happen, Satan wants you to murmur and complain as things will happen. God wants you to meditate on his Word, Satan wants you to worry which is a negative form of meditation on your problems. Yeah, so he wants a reciprocal to the anointing.
And so money, is that mammon anointing. It's the anointing that says, if I can get you to make a choice and choose mammon over God, then mammon says to you, "Money is your anointing," and you believe that money removes your burdens and destroys your yokes. And if he can, now, it never turns out the way 'cause mammon or Satan always makes promises he can't keep, and he always promises you the things that only God can give you. The anointing of mammon, which is ooh, that's a book right there 'The Anointing Of Mammon.' The anointing of mammon which is money, can buy you a house, but only the anointing of God can make it a home. Are you following what I'm saying? The anointing of mammon, can buy you some associates, but only anointing of God can fester healthy relationships.