Transcription
This program is brought to you in part by the Partners and Friends of Creflo Dollar Ministries.
Coming up next on Changing Your World, 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 going to 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 going to 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."
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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, I want to 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 going to 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 ye 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 begin to mock him because of what was being said.
Now, remember that. 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 want to 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 apply it in some kind of, I don't know, some kind of 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, this unfaithful steward who was mismanaging the money of somebody else. A steward is someone who oversees the, the goods and riches, uh, 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, he cut him a deal on each one. Continue to mismanage it. See?
And then Jesus comes right in the middle of the context of a steward showing that it 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. 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, 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 the least in context here is money. So when he says, "You can't be trusted with much because 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 because he just said it's the least. "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 want to say money. Because everybody and their mama who goes to church, they haven't heard this kind of stuff. "No, that ain't money. Man, ain't money. What money got to do with it?" And I'm going to show you today that it is the center focus of whether or not your life is going to take off, influenced by God, or whether your life is going to 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're going to 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 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 the 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 money."
So what is he saying here? Well, go to the next verse. Verse 11 says this: "If therefore ye 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. And Babylon, they were driven by this 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, 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, not money, causes you to be unfaithful. The spirit of mammon. Now, in most translations, you will see it, 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 kind of 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 you've not been, uh, faithful in the unrighteous money." No, he's saying more than money. He's saying when mammon is in the picture, when mammon is, is, is, is, is in, 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, some things I wrote down. I want to 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 of God. 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, why is, 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 have to decide." You know, who's going to be your master? It's going to be God or it's going to be what? Mammon. Now, remember the other day, and, 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, and, and, and, 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: "The love of..." No, he doesn't say love, does it? "Money is the root of all evil." How many of you heard it say like that? Do you know that's nowhere in the Bible? 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 want to avoid ever being successful financially because I heard that money messed 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 the wrong things with money. No, God wants Christian people 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. Because if you didn't believe if that were the truth, then you would 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, "Well, 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 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, 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, uh, 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 you know God, if you trust him, God will release an anointing to remove every burden and destroy every yoke in your life? How do you 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 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. We've we've mystified the anointing as the jerk or the holler or the dance. Now, that's not the anointing. Oh, he's anointed. No, no, no. The anointing removes burdens and destroys 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 kind of felt something. 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.
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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. If I would anoint your head with oil, if you're 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, He puts His anointing on mechanics, and 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 going to 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 going to 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 said, "I receive that anointing right now." That anointing from God to destroy yokes. I don't know what yoke you might have around your life right now, but when, when that anointing, when you receive that anointing, when you... Somebody says, "When can I receive it?" You see, you can receive it right now. You ain't got to wait on nothing special to happen. He's already released it. Praise God. All you got to do is take it. Praise God. Shout out loud, "I'm anointed!" Somebody says, "How you gonna say that?" Because the Anointed One lives on the inside of you. The day you got got, 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 PhDs and God came and anointed you. Glory to God. And now you're above. There's nothing in the natural that cannot do the anointing. Thank you.
So now, Satan wants him something like that. Like God has an 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. God, money is that imposter anointing. Satan says, "Well, I'm going to 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, uh, something to, to, to, 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 on His own, His Word, and 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, 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 because 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, move. 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. I'm saying the anointing of mammon, uh, can buy you some associates, but only the anointing of God can foster healthy relationships.
Does money have anything to do with your relationship with God? Creflo Dollar looks at what the Bible says about money, trust, mammon, and honor in his six-message series, "The Truth Behind Mammon." The spirit of mammon always abandons you. The spirit of mammon is always going to promise you that, that only God can give you. Materialism is when you try to use materials to do only what God can do. And that is the characteristic of mammon. And the spirit of mammon ultimately wants to put you in charge. He wants self to be in charge because the spirit of mammon is selfish. The spirit of mammon is all about self.
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"Grace has transformed my life. I started seeing transformations of myself. It's a word that is going to be heard around the world. The grace of God has saved me from self-condemnation." Hallelujah. I'm telling you, God is working on the inside of each of us, and He's producing the fruit of love, and producing the fruit of peace. He's producing the fruit of contentment. If you'll stick with Him and let Him do the work in you, that's the job of the Holy Spirit. Make sure you use the information on your screen to register right now. We'll see you in Houston, Texas, February 23rd and 24th. Orlando, Florida, on March 31st. We'll see you there.
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