Volume 27, Issue 1
WisconsinChristianNews.com
Page 21
Will You Serve God Or Mammon?
of materialism. The root of materialism is cov- etousness. With time, other concerns came to the fore and we have ac- customed ourselves to our times. The material resources have led us to facing many issues that have their roots in cov- etousness. Have we dealt with the root cause or are we trying to con- trol carnal hearts with rules? We are paving the way for failure unless we lay the axe to the root of the tree.
about it with your family. Consider the extent to which we have suc- cumbed to affluent living. List the things we think we need today that our grandparents lived without or maybe go further back to great grandparents. Discuss how many things we could do without right now. These should not be sessions that arouse fears and anxiety, but rather, it should be a time of thinking how you may need to trust God in a more real way. Think of Christian ways to relate to thievery that would probably accompany an economic crisis. One can never create an ac- tual scenario and plan exactly how it will be and how you will respond, but we need a different mindset than we have been perpetuating in the last 40 or 50 years. Those who have their treasure here on earth will likely try to figure out some way to insulate them- selves or to secure their earthly holdings but this will be a waste of time. Much more important is to pre- pare our hearts to respond in faith now so that we can continue to walk with the Lord through the valley.
We have lived with almost unpar- alleled economic growth. Many youth and young married people live as though American affluence is se- cure. They seemingly think: “We will always be able to get a good paying job or run a lucrative business, etc.” When you try to get them to think seriously about a possible economic crisis, it seems that they cannot con- nect because it is so foreign to any- thing they have ever known. Thankfully, there are a few among us who know something about poverty and know what it means to trust the Lord in times of real need. Do you serve God or mammon? Is your treasure where a thief can get it? Is it where an economic col- lapse would cause it to be worth- less? Or is it in heaven? If it is on the earth, you cannot secure it! Rod & Staff Publishers W6053 County Rd. X Withee, WI 54498 (715) 229-9400
By Isaac D. Martin April 2026
they became affluent — they would forget God. Did they forget His name? Did they forget the feasts and sacrifices? Not really, they con- tinued to be religious. When Aaron made that first golden calf, he said: “tomorrow is the feast of the Lord.” Humanity is the same today. Wealth and affluence causes us to forget God in our heart. But we carry His name on our lips. This allows us to think of privileges as rights or neces- sities. It allows us to be “worldly” but religious in all our concepts and re- lationships. One cannot study the life of Christ and the Apostles without seeing how they regarded life and material things. The Holy Spirit set men free from the love of wealth. The first recorded death in the Christian church was of a man and his wife who wanted to appear sacrificial, yet holding on to an earthly treas- ure. Paul instructed Timothy regard- ing riches and the snare that they can be. Read 1 Timothy 6 and then compare how this is true for some- one else. Humans are adept at the unwise practice of comparing them- selves among themselves. See 2 Corinthians 10:12. Jesus said: “No man can serve two masters.” That is truth. Many try to serve two masters, but no man can succeed because Jesus says it is not possible. In this same dis- course Jesus said: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Do we see the evidence of hearts in heaven or are they on the earth? Heavenly hearts can let “things” go and not feel hurt. In the early years of the Nation- wide Fellowship Movement, we heard many messages on the evils
How much of the wealth of our churches come from the markets of affluent items? Many of these busi- nesses seem legitimate enough, but we need to consider how we will fare should God judge the nation and bring a financial collapse. Many of our people will be without re- sources or work. Take, for instance, the production of bedroom furniture, mini barns, lawn care, kitchen cabi- nets and lawn furniture: these all provide goods readily mar- ketable in today’s economy. Should the economy suddenly change, very few people will be in the market for these products — then what? Do we have the spiritual forti- tude to understand that God does not owe us an affluent economy? Do we know that many, if not most, Christians must pray daily: “Give us this day our daily bread?” Have we learned in whatsoever state we are in to be content? Do we know how to suffer need as well as to abound? Note Paul’s tes- timony in Philippians 4:12. An economic crisis would be a time of great sifting. At such a time, you will soon discover those who know the Lord as their Shepherd and those who do not know Him. You will discover those who have their treasure in heaven and those who have it on the earth. You will discover how few there are who hate and despise mammon. What can we do to prepare ourselves for such a time as this? Think about it in your heart. Be honest with yourself. Is your treasure in heaven? Talk
“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.” (Matthew 6:24). This verse is in the context of treasures being either in heaven or here on earth. Jesus commanded us to not lay up treasures here on earth. He also warned us of the problems associated with earthly treasures — corruption and theft. Christians can live in this life with- out anxiety because they have God as their Father. As Father, He has everything in His control and He can make water to come out of a rock and He can rain bread from heaven or sustain us in any miraculous way He deems to use. Trustful living of this caliber is not very obvious in the western culture of our time. We have all become ac- customed to living with many things. It is no longer a matter of living with many things but we regard many things as necessities that we cannot live without. When we go to other lands with the Gospel, we carry a great deal of stuff for nothing more than creature comforts or we have the means to purchase things that nationals cannot afford. Where are those who ask the question: “what do we love and what do we hate?” What do we hold to and what do we despise? It is mammon or God? We cannot serve both. We cannot love both neither can we hold both. Bible warnings abound regarding the dangers of riches. Israel was warned of what would happen when
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