Being Delivered from Mammon to inherit Eternal Life, enter the Kingdom and be Saved

As believers in Christ, we need to realize that being delivered from mammon is part of our salvation; for us to receive eternal life, to enter the kingdom of the heavens, and to be saved, we need to be delivered from mammon.

In God’s eyes, mammon is an idol, even one of the biggest idols; it is one thing to be rich or wealthy, and it is another thing to have mammon.

A believer in Christ is one who is saved from serving idols, turns from idols, and serves a living and true God.

We have turned from serving all kinds of pagan idols, but what about serving mammon?

The matter of mammon – the love for the riches, the desire to be wealthy – is in all of us; whether we express it or not, by default we pursue mammon and we worship it.

When we were children in our parents’ home, we may have not loved mammon, but as soon as we started to study and work to make a living, we realized that we need more money, so mammon became something we unwittingly worshipped. Oh, Lord!

Even in the church life, the reason that the church has so many needs that require the unrighteous mammon, the reason there are poorer saints, and the reason there’s a call for giving to the Lord is that saints love mammon.

It is impossible for us to serve two masters: we can either serve God or mammon.

Some may say that they don’t serve mammon, yet they don’t get rid of it either but rather, they accumulate it and treasure it. Some in the world may consider themselves atheists, but actually, they still serve a particular god, which is mammon.

May the Lord expose our love and pursuit of mammon, and may we be delivered from mammon so that we may be fully saved, receive eternal life, and enter the kingdom!

May we exercise our spirit over the word of God and allow God to shine in our being to expose anything else besides Him that we worship, so that we may be the true worshippers that He desires.

We want to worship God in spirit and in truthfulness, offering Him the worship that He desires; however, it is not possible for us to worship God in spirit if we still worship mammon.

To worship God is not merely to lift up our hand in prayer and adopt a certain position of humbling ourselves before Him as we pray; it is to turn from serving and worshipping other gods and worshipping God uniquely.

May the Lord have mercy on all the saints to enlighten us in this matter.

Being Delivered from Mammon to inherit Eternal Life, enter the Kingdom and be Saved

If we see that mammon is an idol, we will realize our need to be delivered from mammon.

Being delivered from mammon is part of our salvation; on one hand, we are delivered from sin, from the world, and from the flesh, and on the other hand, we are delivered from mammon.

Just as we need to be delivered from sin and from the self, so we need to be delivered from mammon.

We see this in two chapters in Luke, chs. 18-10. Here there are three matters that are linked to being delivered from mammon – eternal life, the kingdom of the heavens, and salvation.

In Luke 18 a rich young man, a rich young ruler, came to the Lord and asked Him what to do to inherit eternal life; the Lord asked him concerning fulfilling the law and finally, He told him that he had to sell all and follow Him.

The rich young man confirmed that he did everything to fulfil the law, but when he heard that he had to sell all and follow the Lord, he was sorrowful and left.

He thought that the requirement was too high, so he left in sorrow.

After this, the Lord told the disciples that it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God; it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom (vv. 18-25). Wow!

Can a camel go through the eye of a needle? It is impossible. The camel is too big, and the eye of the needle is too small.

The young ruler could have obeyed the law and fulfill it in himself and by himself, but when it came to the matter of the riches, he couldn’t do it anymore, so he left in sorrow.

For us to enter the kingdom of God, we need to be delivered from mammon; this is not something we can do of ourselves but rather, what is impossible with man is possible with God.

In our natural being, we all love money, and none of us can give up everything. However, when we come to the Lord, behold Him, and are infused with Him, He becomes the source of our faith, and by faith even a camel can go through the needle’s eye.

This is the gospel, and this should be our experience; in and by faith, in the organic union with the Lord, we can be delivered from mammon and enter the kingdom of God.

The Lord promised that those who give up houses, wives, or children for the kingdom’s sake would receive a hundredfold in this age and eternal life in the age to come.

For us to enter the kingdom of God requires to forsake all we have. For us to inherit the eternal life, we need to be delivered from mammon.

It may seem that it is impossible to do this in ourselves, but in Luke 19 we see this rich tax collector, Zaccheus, who was delivered from mammon simply by the Lord’s visitation.

He gave half of his possessions to the poor, and the Lord said that salvation has come into that house. Wow! Somehow this “camel” went through the “eye of a needle” and obtained salvation!

Truly, this is impossible with man, but when Jesus is there when Jesus visits us and is with us, it is possible with God!

For us to receive eternal life, the kingdom, and salvation, he has to be delivered from mammon and to dispose of everything; this can be done not in and of ourselves but in oneness with the Lord, in the organic union with Christ.

No one can fulfill these requirements; no one is willing to give up everything and sell all he has to follow the Lord.

It is impossible for man to be perfect as God is perfect; it is impossible for man to have a surpassing righteousness before God. But praise the Lord, with God all these things are possible.

God’s way is not to enlarge the eye of the needle and make it a wide gate so that even a heavily laden camel can get through; rather, His way is to reduce the size of the camel until it is thin enough to pass through the eye of the needle.

We need to cooperate with the Lord for this, opening to Him in prayer and telling Him,

Lord Jesus, visit us and abide with us; it is impossible for us to enter the kingdom of God on our own, but with God all things are possible. We desire to be delivered from mammon so that we may enter the kingdom of God, inherit eternal life, and receive salvation. Amen, Lord, we come to You as we are; we open to You and we need You. Make us one with You. Shine in our being and remove anything of mammon in us. Remove the love for mammon from our being. Deliver us from mammon, so that we may enter the kingdom and receive salvation and life. Amen, Lord, with us this is impossible, but with You all things are possible!

What is Impossible with Man (being delivered from mammon) is Possible with God!

We need to come back to the divine revelation in the word of God in all things; we should not rely on our own understanding, interpretation, or feelings, but base our experience on what the Word of God says.

We may not be rich like the rich young ruler in Luke 18, but we all love mammon and need to be delivered from it; however, the Lord’s verdict is that this is impossible with man.

How can we as camels enter through the eye of the needle so that we can enter into the kingdom, enjoy salvation, and receive life?

Those among us who are rich are like big camels, and those who are less rich are smaller camels; everyone is a camel.

Just as a camel can’t go through the eye of a needle, so a rich man cannot enter into the kingdom of God or inherit life.

Peter’s reaction is probably also our reaction, Then who can be saved?

The Lord’s word about being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God indicates the impossibility of entering into the kingdom of God by our natural life.

It is impossible with man to be delivered from mammon and enter the kingdom of God, but it is possible with God!

The Lord doesn’t want us to try and try and try and try even more to do it; He wants us to realize the impossibility of our natural life before God and come to Him as we are, for He can make it possible for us to be delivered from mammon and enter the kingdom of God, receive salvation, and enjoy eternal life.

We can do all things in Him, who empowers us; if we call on Him for help, if we are joined to Him in our impossibility, even a camel can go through the needle’s eye.

In ourselves we love money and we worship mammon, and we are not willing to forsake everything; however, when Jesus comes in – as He did in Luke 19 – we are spontaneously delivered from mammon and salvation is ours.

When we invite the Lord in our situation when we pray and confess our impotence in this matter, He will come in, and we are spontaneously saved from loving mammon.

When we see even one glimpse of Christ, we forsake everything for His sake.

When Zaccheus saw Jesus and had His presence in his house, without the Lord telling him to do anything, he simply said that he will give his riches to the poor and restore those whom he wronged.

Salvation truly came to that house, for Jesus was there, and Zaccheus was delivered from mammon.

If the young ruler in Luke 18 would have invited the Lord Jesus in his impossible situation, it would have been easy for him to sell all he had and follow the Lord.

Throughout the centuries there were many such impossibilities that became possibilities because the Lord came into that situation.

During the last two thousand years, countless people were like the camel that passed through the eye of the needle by inviting the Lord in their situation, and their impossibility became a possibility with Him; the result was that they were delivered from mammon.

We can tell the Lord in our fellowship with Him,

Lord Jesus, we confess that it is impossible for us to give up mammon, for in our natural being there is love for money. Come in, dear Lord, and dine with us; abide with us and make all things that are impossible, possible with You. Deliver us from mammon. Grant us to have a glimpse of who You are and what You are so that we may be spontaneously delivered from the love of money. We want to see You, enjoy You, and be infused with You. We cannot get rid of our love for money and mammon still has a grip on us, Lord, but we come to You to behold You and be spontaneously delivered from mammon! Amen, Lord, keep us in the organic union with You where all things are possible to You!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, and portions from, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 59, ch. 8, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Material offerings and the Lord’s Move Today, week 1, entitled, Principles of Material Offerings (1).
• Hymns on this topic:
  – What has stripped the seeming beauty / From the idols of the earth? / Not a sense of right or duty, / But the sight of peerless worth. (Hymns #437)
  – Arise! the holy bargain strike— / The fragment for the whole— / All men and all events alike / Must serve the ransomed soul. / All things are yours when you are His, / And He and you are one; / A boundless life in Him there is, / And kingdom yet to come. (Hymns #473)
  – All things are possible to God; / To Christ, the power of God in man; / To me when I am all renewed, / In Christ am fully formed again, / And from the reign of sin set free, / All things are possible to me. (Hymns #535)