The Relationship between God, All Things, and Money 神和萬物，並萬物與錢財的關係

The Relationship between God,
All Things, and Money

How does God see money? Here we need to understand two kinds of relationships. The first is the relationship between God and all things. The second is the relationship between all things and money. God made from one all things (Acts 17:26). Everything a person touches with his hands and treads over with his feet is made by God. God not only made from one all things; He is even the Lord of all things. Satan is God's adversary. Yet he cannot deal with God directly. Because he cannot deal with God directly, he deals with all the things that issue from God's creation. Because Satan cannot damage God Himself, he tries to damage God's work. If Satan can snatch God's creation out of His hand, God will have failed. In order to damage God's work, Satan tries to snatch away God's creation.

God Making from One All Things,
whereas Satan Unifying All Things through Money

Today I wish to point out to you the relationship between all things and money, and the relationship between all things and God. Satan tries to gain all things, but he cannot gain every item of all the things. "All things'' are too much for him to handle. It is too troublesome to gain all things. "All things'' include cows, goats, wood, stone, and so forth. You could not exhaust the list of all things with a thousand lines. God made from one all things. Hence, Satan reduces all things into one thing. This one thing is money. There is nothing in this world that cannot be bought with money. If a person has money, he has all things. This is why "money" in Chinese is tung-hwo, which means the "common good.'' You cannot call a piece of stone plus a piece of wood, two of anything. You cannot call a chair plus a table, two of anything. But through the invention of money, Satan is able to unify all things. He makes all things simple. Originally, the world with all its myriads of items was made from one. Now Satan is unifying these myriads of things into one through money. Everything that we see today can be reckoned in terms of money. Money is the means to unify all things. All things are created by God. Only money is not created by God; it comes from Caesar. When men asked Christ if there was a need to pay tribute money, He asked them to show Him a denarius, and He answered, "Render then the things that are Caesar's to Caesar'' (Matt. 22:21). He did not take any money out from His own pocket. Had He done this, others would have said that He too had Caesar in His pocket.

Money is created by Satan for the purpose of unifying all things. All things can be reckoned in terms of money. The earth is created by God. Yet today man can reckon the price of land in terms of money. If it is possible, man would even reckon the price of the moon or the hydrogen in the sun with money. Today man can buy everything. He can buy time. He can even buy human souls. One brother worked in the post office for many years. The post office had bought his soul. Jacob's wealth included cattle and sheep and the souls of men as well. Revelation 18 tells us that the human soul is a commodity that can be bought and sold (vv. 12-13). God has made from one all things. But Satan has unified all things into one.

Satan Withstanding God through Mammon
and Usurping Man's Worship through Mammon

When we gain God, we have all things. In the same way, when Satan takes hold of money, he has everything. Money is omnipotent; everything can be bought with money. In order to buy wood, stones, or any other things that we like, we need mammon. As a result, mammon becomes the power, the center, of man's worship. Is man going to worship God or mammon? This is the controversy of the universe. The worship of God lies on one side of all things, and the worship of mammon lies on the other side of all things. Mammon is diametrically opposed to God. Mammon can withstand God because it is the only thing that can unify all things. Covetousness is not only a root of all evils (1 Tim. 6:10), it is the same as idolatry. Riches are an idol. The Bible says that covetousness and idolatry are the same kind of sins (Eph. 5:5). If a man has not dealt with his money in a clear way after he is saved, he is not yet fully saved. If a person still keeps wooden or stone idols in his house, will we accept such a one for baptism? Yet many people have never dealt with the matter of money after they are saved. Today we say that India is a nation of idols and that there are more idols than people in that land. Yet there are countless more people who worship mammon than people who worship idols. From the people in Asia to those in Africa, from scientists to the most superstitious people, everyone worships mammon. Mammon is the most common object of worship. (THE RESUMPTION OF WATCHMAN NEE'S MINISTRY)

神和萬物，並萬物與錢財的關係

神是怎樣看錢財？這裏我們需要認識兩種的關係。第一是神與萬物的關係，第二是萬物和錢財的關係。神是從一本創造萬物，你腳所踏的、手所摸的，都是神所造的。神不只從一本創造萬物，神也是萬物之主。撒但是神的對頭，但是他無法對付神自己。因著他不能對付神自己，所以他就對付從神出來的萬物。撒但不能破壞神自己，所以他要破壞神的工作。如果撒但能彀把神的造物拉出神的手，神就失敗了。撒但要破壞神的工作，所以就拉住神的造物。

神從一本造出萬有，撒但藉錢財將萬有歸一

今天我願意給你們看見萬物和錢財的關係、並受造之物與神的關係。撒但要得著萬物，但他不能每一件都得著，因為他不能應付萬有那麼大。要得著萬有太麻煩，萬物包括牛、羊、木、石。用千萬句話來說萬物，都說不完。神由一本造出萬物，撒但就把萬物整理歸一。這一個一就是錢財。世界上沒有買不到的東西；有了錢就有萬物。所以錢被稱為『通貨。』一塊石頭、木頭不能說兩塊，一張椅子、桌子不能說兩張。撒但創造錢財乃是他歸一萬物的結果；他把萬物整理得變成簡單。世界是由一本變成形形式式的萬物，而撒但乃是把形形式式的萬物藉著錢財歸一。今天所見的萬物都可以用錢算出來。所以錢就是統一萬有的結果。萬物都是神造的，只有錢不是神造的，牠乃是從該撒來的。人問基督要不要納稅，主說你拿一塊錢來給我看，然後祂說，該撒的物當歸給該撒。（太二二21。）祂沒有從自己的口袋裏拿出錢來，不然別人就能對主說，你口袋裏也有該撒。

錢財乃是撒但造的，為要叫萬物歸一。萬物能彀用錢算出來。地是神造的，但是今天人可以用錢把地的價值算出來。若能作得到，人連月亮也會算，太陽裏面的氫也會算，今天人甚麼都可以買，時間可以買，連人口也可以買。一位弟兄在郵政局工作數十年，就是郵政局把他這個人口買去了。雅各的財產裏面包括牛羊，也包括人口。啟示錄十八章告訴我們，人口是一件可以販賣的東西。（12～13。）神從一本造萬物，撒但是把萬物歸於一。

撒但藉瑪門與神對抗，奪取人對神的敬拜

我們得著神就得著萬有，撒但得著錢也就得著萬有。錢是萬能的，萬物都可以用錢買來。我們買木頭、石頭、或者其他心愛的東西，都需要瑪門。所以瑪門變成能力，成為人敬拜的中心。人到底是拜神呢，或者是拜瑪門？這乃是宇宙爭執的中心。對神的敬拜是在萬物的這一邊，對撒但的敬拜是在萬物的那一邊。神的對面就是瑪門。為何瑪門能彀與主對抗，因為只有牠能使萬有歸一。貪財不但是萬惡之根，（提前六10，）貪財簡直就是拜偶像，財就是偶像。聖經說貪財與拜偶像是一樣的罪。（弗五5。）一個人得救後，如果錢財不弄清楚，就不能完全得救。一個信主的人，如果家中還擺著木石偶像，我們能彀接受他受浸麼？但是，有多少人得救以後，錢財還沒有對付清楚。我們說今天的印度是偶像之國，在那裏人口還不如偶像口多，但是今天拜瑪門的人比拜偶像的人不知多多少。從亞洲到非洲，從科學家到最迷信的人都拜瑪門。瑪門乃是最普遍受人敬拜的。《 倪柝聲恢復職事過程中信息記錄》