The Word in a Recession — Zac Poonen

Jeremiah's Influence and Faithful Witnesses

In Jeremiah's time, there was this young man called Daniel, who listened to him and responded. And he was a true witness for God in Babylon, but most of the others didn't respond. The prophets would get one, two, three, four people.

I think Jeremiah's ministry influenced Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Those are later on known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I believe that the seed that was sown in their heart that came forth in fruit in Babylon started with the ministry of Jeremiah when they listened to him as a young man in Jerusalem.

But he couldn't save the nation. But he did manage to sow a seed in the heart of a few people who stood for the Lord where they were. Today, Christendom is hurtling towards Babylon in many ways. The Bible speaks about a Babylonian Christianity.

Babylon as a Spiritual System

See, a Babylonian Christianity, Babylon is called the harlot, and Jerusalem is called the bride. And Babylon is not any particular denomination. A lot of people who said for years that the Roman Catholic Church was Babylon, well, I wish it were so easy to get out of Babylon just by leaving a church.

The Bible speaks of Babylon as the mother of harlots. It's not a harlot. She is a harlot, but she's the mother of her daughter's harlots. And there are many, many churches that have got that spirit of Babylon.

It's not just one. Babylon is a system, and it's a principle of harlotry there. And you can learn a lot from it because the Old Testament had it too. Israel played the harlot. Many times you read the prophets speaking about Israel playing the harlot.

Elijah's Call to Choose Between Jehovah and Baal

In Elijah's time, Israel was playing the harlot by saying that they worshipped Jehovah, at the same time worshipping Baal. They were worshipping two gods, Jehovah and Baal. That is harlotry. And Elijah came and stood before them and said, you can't do that.

You've got to make a choice. If Jehovah is God, worship him. If Baal is God, worship him. But you can't do both. That's what Jesus came and said. He said, you can't serve two masters. You can't serve God and mammon.

Mammon as a Rival Master

And mammon refers to not just money, but everything related to money. It's the stock market. It's the real estate. It's business. It's property. It's everything related to money, which is the biggest power in the world.

Jesus summed it all up as mammon. And he says, if you think that you can follow me and also have mammon have a big place in your life, you're just fooling yourself. But a lot of Christians think they can do that.

Jehovah and Baal, Christ and money. Now, it's not the two masters are not Christ and Satan, because there's not a single believer in the whole world who thinks he can serve Christ and Satan at the same time.

Not even one. But there are millions of Christians who think they can serve Christ and money. That's why Jesus said the two masters were God and mammon. There are others. It's not just mammon. The devil is the prince of this world and he's got many other alternatives to Christ.

Recession and the Shaking of Mammon

Some of them look so innocent. I'm not talking about making money through cheating and telling lies and deceiving. No, I'm talking about just earning money through righteous means and it becoming such a God in your life that when it dwindles, it disturbs you.

And I believe in a time of recession. A lot of honest believers are discovering how money was their God. That's why it disturbs them because their God is shaking. You know, it's like the Dagon, the Philistines, God fell down and it disturbed them.

That's what's happening today. Mammon is falling down and is disturbing some people. That won't disturb a man who is only worshipping Christ. Why should it disturb him if Dagon falls down or Baal falls down or mammon falls down?

Seeking God's Kingdom Above Worldly Security

Why are so many believers disturbed in this time? Is it that in this particular time, those who seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness will not have all things added to them? Is it because Matthew 6 .33 has failed?

Or is it because we read too much in the newspapers and watch too much television and listen to what all the other people in the world say? The God mammon has fallen down or is shaking and is disturbing us.

Why should it disturb you if mammon is shaking? Is Christ shaking? Who are you worshipping? And there in such situations we discover that we who thought we were worshipping only Christ were actually worshipping Christ plus somebody else.

Rejoicing When Babylon Falls

And in such a situation that the church needs to send with the spirit of Elijah and say, if Christ is God, worship Him. If mammon is God, worship Him. But you cannot worship both. See, for example, if I were living in Israel in those days and I was a true worshipper of Jehovah, I wouldn't care two hoots what happened to Baal.

If some idol of Baal fell down, it wouldn't disturb me. I would rejoice. Thank God that idol fell down. And when I see those who trust in mammon shaking today and uncertain and people committing suicide and all that, I say, praise God, that's great.

Mammon is shaking and all that people who put their confidence in. I'm not rejoicing of people committing suicide. I feel sorry for them. But that this whole system that's built on mammon is shaking. I say, praise God, let it crumble and fall as soon as possible because God is determined.

I mean, I've preached this for years. I preached it in times of prosperity. I preach exactly the same thing today. I've said this many times before for many, many years in India. What the Lord says in Hebrews chapter 12, I will shake earth and heaven.

God's Shaking of Created Things

Hebrews 12, 27. And this denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of all created things. In order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. There's a tremendous verse, Hebrews 12, 27.

God says, if you depend on anything created, I'm going to shake it. And it's necessary so that our confidence is not in something created. You remember in the Old Testament, God would tell Israel, if you lean upon Egypt, I'll make you fail.

You lean upon Syria, I'll make you fail. You lean upon any of these other nations around you to help you, you will fail. You will lose. I want you to come to the place where you don't depend on Egypt and you don't depend on Syria.

You depend on me. And that's what the Lord is saying today. Everything that's created, he's going to shake it. And it's going to crumble and fall. And I'll tell you this. When the devil's kingdom, when you see the devil's kingdom crumbling and falling, people who have put their confidence in the stock market and real estate and invested here and there to make money.

Confidence in God During Crisis

When you see that crumbling and falling, should you feel sad? No. Do you know the first time the word Hallelujah comes in the New Testament? Do you know where it comes? You should know that. We say Hallelujah so often.

At least you should know where it comes for the first time in the New Testament. I'll tell you where it comes. Babylon has fallen. Hallelujah. It's there. Babylon has fallen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.

Babylon has fallen. That's the thing. So, that is the thing that makes people rejoice. Babylon has fallen. And you see the crumbling of all these things. This is just a fulfillment of prophecy. It doesn't disturb me one bit.

It should disturb those who are not seeking God's kingdom first and His righteousness. Certainly. I love the faith of that brother who said, I heard a brother in Europe somewhere, he said this once in a meeting.

He said, I seek God's kingdom and His righteousness first in my life and God is my witness to that. And he said, if there's a famine in the city and there's only one loaf of bread, it'll come to my house.

Because I'm seeking God's kingdom first and His righteousness. And He's promised to supply all my need. Not only because He'll meet my need, because God will know that I'm the only one who will share that bread with others.

All the others will selfishly keep it to themselves. You remember what happened when the white took case care, when preachers told people to keep bottles of water and keep plenty of food and plenty of toilet paper and plenty of all this.

And above all, keep a gun so that if anybody else comes to take those things from you, you can shoot them. Because you've got to keep it for your family. Imagine preachers teaching that and some well-known preachers.

If I mention their names to you, you'll be shocked. Some of the people you admire, they taught that to their followers. Did they know God? Do you know how easily Christians are fooled? People who they thought were great prophets.

Yeah, it's when these things are shaking that you discover that our confidence is not only in Christ. It is in Christ plus our bank account, plus something else, plus something else, plus something else.

And I'll tell you something, if you want to be prepared for the future, my brothers and sisters, you better learn right now to say, Lord, my confidence is only in you. I'm not going to put my trust or confidence in anything outside of you.

The Fire of Total Surrender

Without a fire in our heart, something is missing. The fire is the thing that we must long for in our life all the time. And it will not fall unless we have laid everything on the altar. Unless we said, Lord, I don't want any false fire in my life.

I've said that many times in my life.