A
Treatise on Mammon
To
the Church of the Living God, that sojourns abroad in divers places. Grace,
mercy, and peace from God the Father and our Savior Jesus Christ.
As
time passes on and our view becomes shortsighted, it at times is vital for the servants
of God to be reminded of firmly founded precepts that mark the fundamentals of
our universal faith. The apostle Paul rightly admonishes the Church at Ephesus
“in all meekness and lowliness of mind, with long-suffering, forbearing one
another in love, endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
For there is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of
your calling; One Lord, one Faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who
is above all, and through all and in you all.” Likewise, the Didache states
that “let nobody consider what he has as his own, for if we are partakers in
that which is incorruptible, how much more in things which are corruptible.”
Furthermore, Christ Himself said “give to everyone who asks of you, and lend
expecting nothing in return. For if you lend to others expecting return, what
do ye more than sinners? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive the same
again.” And “sell what you have and give to the poor, obtain for yourselves
bags which wax not old, a treasure laid up in the heavens where no thief
approaches nor moth corrupts.” “Woe unto the rich, blessed are the poor and
poor in spirit, and forsake all or you cannot be my disciple. For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If we truly believe we are one
body, having common faith and hope, serving The Christ our Lord, King of kings,
Alpha and Omega; that we have a common salvation to be in the unified kingdom
of God, for the Savior Himself said, “a kingdom divided against itself cannot
stand”; that Christ meant everything He said, and that His words will judge us
in the last days; then how can we willfully disobey the above teachings and
think that we love and serve God?
The
apostle John clearly stated that “if we have this worlds goods, and see our
brother in need, and close up our bowels of compassion, how does the love of
God abide in such a person? Beloved, let us not love in word or in speech, but
in deed and in truth.” Likewise, “love
not the world, neither the things that are in the world, for he that loves the
world does not have the love of the Father abiding in him.” Brothers and
sisters, if we are to be truly Christ’s disciples, laboring for that which is
eternal, a city set on a hill that cannot be hid, why do we continue to labor
for our own land, crops, businesses, houses, etcetera, while we see brothers in
need, millions without basic necessities, lost people in false churches, and
billions of people on the broad way to destruction as the world quickly waxes
from bad to worse. What hinders us from obeying these teachings; from forsaking
all, denying ourselves of divers dainties, luxuries, and “foolish and hurtful
lusts that drown men in destruction and perdition”? When we refuse to help our
brethren with legitimate needs, continuing in the futility of our own mind
after vanities, much business, building, planting, buying, selling, are we a
city set on a hill? A light to the world? Free from all hypocrisy? Of a single
eye? Beloved, let us not delude ourselves into thinking we are still the
Christian Church when we will not bring our goods into common stock, having
sold houses and possessions, forsaken our worthless pursuit of various kinds of
foods and drinks, decorations and idols, vacations and useless hobbies, and
distribute unto all according as each have need.
I
assert now plainly and boldly that if we cannot receive these admonitions and
be cut to the heart to repent, to pray for mercy and obey in the fear of God,
we have our allegiance to the god of Mammon and not to Christ. Paul would say
unto such as deny these sayings “no not to eat with such a one who is a
covetous man and an idolater”. If greediness or covetousness is not once to be
named among us as is fitting for saints, then how can we be so deceived as to
think that we do not love money when our Church does not emulate or strive for
that which we see in Acts? Brethren, Christ has declared plainly “no man can
serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or be
devoted to the one and despise the other, you CANNOT serve both God and
Mammon”.
I
recently heard a dream, which I believe to have been from God, to awaken His
people to rise from the dead and let the light of Christ shine on us. Beloved,
let us earnestly seek to understand the intricacies of this dream, hearken and
repent if need be, to be the Church of Christ that the gates of Hades cannot
prevail against and that turns the world upside down. If there be any brotherly
love, any adoration for Christ our pierced Savior and eternal High Priest who
for our sins suffered affliction unto death, to deliver us from death and wash
us from our sins in His own blood, that we might be holy and without blame
before Him in love, or any fear of God in our hearts with devotion to the Holy
Gospel and the Holy Spirit; let us ask God once more to deliver us from the
thorns and thistles of riches and pleasures, to anoint our eyes to see our
covetousness and self-indulgence, to clothe us in righteousness and brotherly
affection to cover the shame of our nakedness, and to have that precious pearl
of great price which this world cannot understand. If we heed these
admonitions, and ask God to aid us in understanding the dream, surely we will
accomplish what is revealed in it. Be not lukewarm my brothers, he that has
ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.
The
dream is as follows as best as my memory can serve me: There was a man and his
wife driving along a road with their children. They were in their van, beholding
all the peril and destruction that was happening round about the city,
seemingly safe in their vehicle. An admonition of strong warning sounded
through the air “Stay in your vehicle, get out at your own risk” said someone
over a speaker of some sort. Tribulation and anguish was upon all as great
disaster took place to many houses and families. As the family drove along,
looking right and left, there was what seemed to be a strange occurrence.
Something had destroyed a number of houses, but left others intact. The ones in
shambles and rubble seemed to be of lesser value, while the more luxurious ones
seemed, as it were, unscathed by the thing that destroyed the others. This was
a reoccurring pattern along the road to the city. House after house, rich and poor
side by side, rich intact, poor destroyed. The destruction was not localized or
confined to a single area. Whatever was destroying the houses seemed to be a
selective process, for it was found that two houses on either side of a rich
house, could be utterly destroyed while the rich one remained unharmed.
Proceeding
further, the family arrived at the intersection of 101 and 20, and seeing a few
empty police cars with lights flashing, heard yet again the warning voice “Stay
in your car, get out at your own risk”. Not knowing what else to do than to
keep going, perhaps unable to go forward further because of the police cars,
they turned into what seemed to be a parking lot. There they saw manifold
amounts of people wandering about aimlessly, having nothing to do but to weep
and despair, many parents expressing the nature of their grief with loud shouts
of “where are my children”, or “where is my son or daughter”. Then the man also
heard one say “my children have gone missing, I cannot find them, somebody has
killed them.” As the man looked roundabout from the safety of his own vehicle
he saw blood and bodies lying about, with various kinds of debris scattered
about the parking lot. The voice sounded again, of what was now clearly a
police officer, “Stay in your vehicle, get out at your own risk, some man is
shooting people”. Suddenly, the man’s wife brings it to his attention that one
of their children has gone missing. Looking all around the van, he is nowhere
to be found. With the police man warning yet again to stay in the vehicle, the
man is met with a tough decision, either lose his own son for certain, or get
out at his own risk with a chance to find him. Disregarding all else but love
for his son, he quickly exits the vehicle to go looking for him. Now walking
about amongst the people, he hears something more about the situation from one
of the people who has lost a child, “there is some man shooting people from on
top of the building”. Now met with much uncertainty about finding his son, he
looks down and sees a bunch of broken glass and a puddle of blood, then
sounding in his ear is the voice of the police officer “Stay in your vehicle,
get out at your own risk, some Jewish man is on top of the building shooting
people”. Torn between his life and that of his son, he proceeds forward to look
for his son, despite the police officers clear warning.
A
little while later, the man finds himself on top of a building, which seems to
be the building that the police officer was referring to. He observes close to the
edge exactly what the police officer described, an older Jewish man in a white
baggy shirt, with a gun leaning against one hand, a black beard and sober
resolve. The man perceives the Jewish man to be one of strong resolute
conviction, one that cannot be shaken, as he observes another man standing next
to him. The second man is in a blue business suit, smooth shaven, your typical
business professional with matching attire. He is exclaiming something to the
Jewish man with his hands raised in somewhat of a disgust, while the Jewish man
calmly but strongly replies “No.” Yet again the business man speaks and the
Jewish man replies “No!” This time he looks up in the air, closes his eyes, and
having gained his composure, he exhales, opening his eyes with intent. There
appears around him smoke rising up to heaven like the burning of incense for
sacrifice, as he quickly, methodically and masterfully, wields his weapon,
dropping to one knee (displaying to the man looking for his son that he is by
far no novice in the use of his weapon) and quickly fires off three rounds in
the distance where there seems to be nothing. Then, suddenly the bullets strike
against something, revealing yet another man. This man is a strong, robust man,
military, clean cut, wearing a black tight shirt and tall black boots, military
trousers, and a bullet proof vest. The three bullets strike him at separate
intervals, the man only appearing as each bullet strikes him, having as it
were, the characteristics of a strobe light. The military man is only visible
as each bullet strikes him, disappearing after each strike. Two strike him in
his vest, and one grazes his neck. He falls to his knees, dropping his sniper
rifle, but wielding a secondary pistol from off the side of his leg, he fires shots
back at the Jewish man. The business man still reasoning his case with the
Jewish man, the Jewish man pays no attention to his words, and delivers a few
more shots to the military man, one delivering a mortal wound. The Jewish man
is struck by the shots, and it is uncertain the damage done to him (as far as
the writer can remember). All the while the business man continues to babble
on, his hands raised in disgust about the actions of the Jewish man. This
concludes the dream.
The
interpretation of each individual aspect of the dream is unclear, and the
writer is not certain the dream is exactly how the person experienced it.
Nevertheless, many aspects of what is written above did happen in the dream,
and have application to servants of God. The rich houses being unharmed, and
the poor being destroyed, and that right next to each other represent the
inequality in the Church and in the world. Many live in want, while few indulge
in excess, this is monstrous and such as maintain this type of lifestyle and practices
while claiming Christ are in fact not a part of the Christian Church. Brethren,
“how hard it is for the rich to inherit the kingdom of God. It is easier for a
camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to inherit the
kingdom of God.”
The
police officers’ warnings represent carnal reasoning to persuade those who are
on the way which leads to life to love their lives in this present world, and
do nothing to help those who are suffering because of the destruction upon many
because of the luxury and self-indulgence of a few. Beloved, Jesus our Savior
said “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone,
but if it dies it shall bring forth much fruit. Therefore, he that loves his
life will lose it, but he that hates his life in this world will save it unto
life eternal”.
The
van represents earthly security; the children dead or missing are those that
have died because of poverty due to violence of wanton luxury and
self-indulgence, or children that have forsaken the faith because of the love
of money they saw in what called itself the church causing them to blaspheme
because of the hypocrisy. Missing children represent those who perhaps have
forsaken the vain conduct of their families to earnestly pursue Christ. The
dazed and confused families represent those drowning in destruction and
perdition because they have coveted after wealth and forsaken the faith, having
justified these deeds with carnal reasoning. The intersection 101/20 represents
Psalms 101:20 and verses around it in the Septuagint, 102 in the KJV which
reads “for He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven
did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose
those that are appointed to death; to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and
His praise in Jerusalem”.
Exiting the car
represents forsaking earthly security to trust in the Living God, leaving the
99 to look for the one lost sheep, and forsaking one’s own possessions to be
Christ’s disciple.
The continuing after
seeing blood and broken glass represents loving not one’s own life unto death,
the testimony of a saint of God.
The Jewish man
represents the Church; modest, firm on conviction, sober, and wielding the word
of God against all enemies (our weapons are not carnal). The business man
represents another form of carnal reasoning, godliness for gain, which the
Church must never listen to as the apostle Paul told Timothy, “from such
withdraw thyself”. The military man represents the god of Mammon: his strobing
appearance, his hidden nature in the Scriptures; the vest, his defense of
Scriptures from the Bible; his weapon being stealthy, fired from afar, killing
many without notice with his sniper rifle pinpoint accuracy on deceiving the
heart that it trusts not in him for security and that one can have treasure on
earth and not set his heart on it.
The Jewish man’s
incense is the Church, the called out ones, offering their bodies as living
sacrifices holy and acceptable unto God, this is their reasonable service
showing why he yields the weapon with ease and expertise as one quite trained
in the art. His Jewish nature signifies how carnal reasoning and the god of
Mammon defame the Church for being legalistic or Pharisaic as it judges
righteous judgment and truly upholds the saying “the Church is the pillar and
ground of the Truth,” applying Scripture and following the Holy Spirit, making
judgments beyond clear Scripture by the grace of God.
The three shots fired
represent the following fundamental precepts of the faith; “sell what you have
and give to the poor”, “be content with food and clothing”, and “take no
thought for your life, what you are to eat, drink, put on”. The return shots of
the military man, the god of Mammon, are persecution, imprisonment, deep
poverty, unjust confiscation of property lands, goods, and even execution if
there is no recantation. The uncertainty of death of the Jewish man represents
the teaching “when I return, will I find faith on the earth”, and “he that
endures to the end shall be saved”.
Beloved
brethren, elect chosen of God, hear now and hearken unto these words of the
Savior and the apostle Paul, this is the mortal wound: “And [Jesus] looked up,
and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a
certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, of a truth I say
unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: for all these
have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God; but she of her
penury hath cast in all the living that she had.” And “moreover, brethren, we
do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. How
that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep
poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I
bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;
praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us
the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we
hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of
God. Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also
finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in
faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to
us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but by
occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet
for your sakes he became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich… for I
mean not that other men be eased and ye burdened, but by an equality, that now
at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want; that their
abundance also may be a supply for your want, that there may be an EQUALITY”.
He that has and ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. Grace
be with you all. He that does not love the Lord Jesus Christ let him be
Anathema Maranatha. Amen [Luke 21; 2 Corinthians 8; 1 Corinthians 16]
Ryan Luedeker
Amen
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