True Riches and Wise Fathers

The Importance of Judging Ourselves Daily

One of the things we emphasize in all CFC churches, which I believe is not emphasized in most other churches—what I call Babylonian churches—is to judge ourselves daily. We are very careful when it comes to any hurt on our body. If we get a cut, we put some medicine on it; if we break something, we put a plaster on it; if dirt gets on us, we try to wash it off. However, we may not be just as careful with inward defilement. That’s an area where God sees whether you are faithful or not. Because it is when we are inwardly unfaithful that we are unable to hear God’s voice.

The Spiritual Eye and God’s Light

Let me read a verse to you: “Luke 11:34” says, “The eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is clear, your whole body is full of light. But when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.” See, the most sensitive part of our body is the eye. It’s the one part of our body that hurts if you touch it; there’s no other part that hurts when touched. We are so careful if a little dust gets into our eye to blow it out or wash it off because we don’t want to lose our eyesight. One speck of dust irritates our eye. So, we need to ask ourselves, as “Luke 11:34” states, if our eye is clear, our whole body will be full of light; but if it is bad, there’s darkness.

Why Some Lack Spiritual Understanding

So why is it that some believers have more light in understanding God’s Word? Don’t say it’s because he’s got a gift; that’s a silly excuse we make. Be honest and say he was more faithful, and I was not. Why don’t you get light on Scripture when you read it in the morning? Maybe your eye is not clear. If you try to read physically and your eye is not clear, you can’t read what’s written there. It’s exactly the same spiritually. You don’t get anything out of the verse you read. For example, did you get anything out of your Scripture reading this morning? I hope all of you read the Scripture sometime today. Can you think of what you got out of it, or do you only get something out of listening to daily devotion?

The Need for Personal Spiritual Feeding

God wants to speak to you personally, in addition to speaking through others. We thank God for all the brothers through whom God can speak to us; that’s good. But how long are you going to be fed by your father or mother? I mean, babies are fed, fed, fed. But if you see a 15-year-old still being fed by his mother, something’s wrong with him. I believe a lot of believers are like that. They can only be fed by others. Can you imagine being a believer for 15 years and still needing someone to put things into your mouth? If you see an older child like that, 15 years old, being fed by his father or mother, you’ll say something’s wrong with him. Why can’t he feed himself? So, when you read the Scriptures, the personal question we must ask ourselves is: Am I getting something out of it, or do I only get it when I go to Sunday meetings or listen to a message online?

Diagnosing Spiritual Insensitivity

If I’m not getting anything out of it, I must ask myself why. Just as we are sensitive to a pain or ache in our body—a headache or a stomachache—and ask why, I must feel exactly the same way spiritually. Let me turn you to another verse: “Luke 16:11” says, “If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will give to you the true riches?” Jesus never speaks about righteous wealth. Every time He speaks about mammon, He calls it unrighteous mammon, meaning there’s so much evil in it. It’s very easy to get your hands dirty.

Righteous Earning vs. Unrighteous Handling

Jesus isn’t saying that earning money is wrong. He earned money as a carpenter and not only took care of His own needs but also the needs of His mother, four brothers, and two sisters at home. He earned righteously. So, there’s nothing wrong with money itself. But a lot of money earned in the world and handled by people has unrighteousness in it. Even believers, I’ve seen, for example, borrow money and don’t repay it as soon as possible. That is 100% unrighteous—I’d say 200% unrighteous—to borrow money from anybody and, when you can return it, not return it, or not discipline yourself to reduce your expenditure so you can repay that debt.

Personal Testimony of Financial Faithfulness

I’ve done it. I’ve never been in debt for 85 years of my life, not even for one cent to anybody. Because I say, Lord, even when I had very little—and I believe Annie and I have been poorer than anybody sitting here at certain times in our life for some years—we never got into debt. We said no, we will not borrow, because the Bible says, “Owe no man anything.” I want to tell you, my dear brothers, if you’re faithful, it says if you’re not faithful with money, who will give you the true riches?

Meditating on the True Riches

So, I meditated on that. When you read “Luke 16:11,” what you should meditate on is: What are the true riches? That’s what I meditated on. I read a Scripture, and I say I don’t want to just read it; I want to meditate on it. As I meditated, I found for myself the true riches are three things:

Total likeness to Jesus Christ—to become a little more like Him, if not every day, at least every year, to be more Christlike. Even your marriage partner should see a difference in you. If your marriage partner doesn’t see a difference in you in six months, take it that you’re not faithful in seeking to judge yourself. There must be some difference.
The anointing of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians in many churches never speak about the anointing of the Holy Spirit; they feel it’s a Pentecostal doctrine. I believe a lot of Pentecostal anointing is fake because I’ve seen it in many Pentecostal churches. But there is a genuine anointing, which Jesus had, which the apostles received on the day of Pentecost, which we must have—not just once, but every single day. Anointing is not just for preaching; very few are called to preach and stand in the pulpit. But to be a godly person, everybody sitting here needs the mighty anointing, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. That’s the second true wealth.
Revelation on Scripture—understanding not what an intelligent person can grasp, because intelligent people can understand many things, but that which even an intelligent person cannot understand, which comes by revelation of the Holy Spirit. Most of the cleverest people in the world are completely blind spiritually; that’s why they don’t see Christ. So, cleverness does not enable a person to understand Scripture.

Distinguishing Revelation from Cleverness

You can use your cleverness to get some clever thought out of a verse because you’re so clever and have a wide range of knowledge. You can get clever things out of words, but that’s not revelation. How do you know it’s not revelation? Revelation changes your life. Cleverness is something you share about a verse with someone else. On Sunday morning, you got something clever at a meeting to share, and you think that’s revelation—garbage. That’s not revelation; that’s just cleverness. A lot of people I hear sharing things from Scripture are sharing cleverness, something very clever. The test is: Has it changed your life in some area? If it has, then it’s definitely revelation. You got something from that verse, and it affected you—it changed your life, your attitude toward the Lord, or your attitude toward someone.

The Link Between Faithfulness and True Riches

So, what are the three things I’ve seen as true riches? Likeness to Christ in character, anointing of the Holy Spirit, and revelation on Scripture. And it says here that these come entirely out of being faithful with money. Imagine, I can have all these three things in abundance if I’m faithful with money—and not just money, but with material things. When you say wealth, you’re not talking just about cash; you’re talking about all you possess. That means you use what you have at home carefully so it doesn’t get spoiled. If something is worn out, you seek to repair it instead of throwing it away like some millionaire. Millionaires throw things away—who’s going to bother repairing it? A poor man says, “No, I’m not going to throw it away; I’ll repair it.”

Practical Faithfulness in Daily Life

Now, I’m not telling you how to run your home. But I’m saying I’ve discovered through the years that if people are careless about the way they use their money, they never get revelation on God’s Word. You’re faithful with little things.

Faithfulness as a Father

I also want to say, in connection with this, since it’s Father’s Day, be faithful as a father. Who is your ideal as a father, whose example you can follow? God Himself. How does God treat His children? You cannot be a better father than this. So, be faithful as a father. Look at God, who is the most faithful Father of all, and see His faithfulness and how He is. He’s not only faithful; He’s so loving. Nobody is as loving as God is. If you want to be a loving, faithful father to your children, here is the perfect example.

God’s Discipline as a Father

In “Hebrews 12:5,” we read about how God is faithful to His children and His example as a Father: “You have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons.” The word “exhortation”—I looked it up in the NASB Bible on my phone, where you can click on a word to see its meaning in the original language—means encouragement. Exhortation may imply some rebuke or challenge, but I discovered that most of the time, it’s translated as encouragement. That’s the real meaning of the word. You have forgotten the encouragement that God is giving to you as sons.

Discipline as Encouragement

What is the encouragement? The encouragement is: Don’t treat lightly the way the Lord disciplines you. Discipline is an encouragement. A father disciplining his son—is that an encouragement or a rebuke? It depends on how you see it and how you convey it to your children. A faithful father will make it clear to his children: This is meant to encourage you, not to depress you, and I don’t do anything to harm you. So, don’t faint when you’re reproved by Him, as “Hebrews 12:5” says, because it’s those whom the Lord loves greatly whom He disciplines.

The Love Behind God’s Discipline

If God doesn’t discipline you, what does it prove? He still loves you, but if you don’t want His discipline, He keeps away. God doesn’t force Himself on anybody. If He forced Himself on people, everybody would be converted and go to heaven. He doesn’t force discipline on anyone either. If God sees that you react badly when He disciplines you, sometimes He will say, “Okay, I won’t trouble you again; go your way.” That would be tragic. “Hebrews 12:6” says, “Whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” The love of God is seen in discipline, in punishing with a rod or scourge—a very strong word, meaning a whip—for discipline.

Discipline as a Mark of Sonship

God deals with you as with sons. If God does not discipline you, it says you’re not His son. For example, if you see a neighbor’s son doing something wrong, you don’t punish him. He may be doing something terrible, but you don’t stop him because he’s not your son. But if your own son or daughter does 1% of that, you punish him because you love him. It’s very clear that God disciplines because He loves, and all our discipline must be out of love. A father’s faithfulness is seen in disciplining his children.

The Necessity of Discipline

When you’re disciplined, as “Hebrews 12:7” says, “God deals with you as with sons.” Listen to this sentence: “What son is there whom his father does not discipline?” I’ll say there are millions of sons like that in the United States and in India. They say, “Which son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?” Hey, whoever wrote Hebrews, I’ll tell you, brother, there are thousands and millions of them today. Why? Because the fathers don’t love them. “Hebrews 12:6” says, “Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines.”

Discipline Reflects True Love

If a father loves, you can’t be a better father than God. Don’t think you’re showing love to your children by not disciplining them. In fact, that proves you don’t love your children. God disciplines, and God is a perfect Father. Make God your example. You can’t be a better father than God. That’s why we have so many wayward, disobedient children among believers’ families everywhere, in every country, who grow up unconverted, not born again, even though their parents are born again. These children are wayward, unbelieving, grow up to be children of the devil, and go to hell because the father’s love did not include discipline. Here is an area of faithfulness, something good to think about on Father’s Day.

Discipline and Legitimate Sonship

As “Hebrews 12:8” says, if you’re without discipline, then you’re probably not a real son of your parents. Maybe you were adopted, or maybe your parents picked you up from the streets. You’re not really his son. Because if you’re really his child, he disciplines you. Undisciplined children are called illegitimate—it’s a strong word. If you don’t discipline your children, you’re proving, “This is not my legitimate child. I got this child out of adultery. It’s not a legitimate child of mine; that’s why I don’t discipline him. But this real child of mine, oh, I discipline him.” Every father and mother can evaluate their faithfulness and see whether they are trying to love in the way the devil loves or in the way God loves.

Communicating Love Through Sacrifices

Faithfulness is a wonderful thing, and I believe we should also tell our children so they appreciate our love. Sometimes our children don’t know how much we love them. I believe every parent should tell their children about the sacrifices they have made for them. Suppose God made a lot of sacrifices for us and never told us about it. Suppose He never told us that He sent Jesus into the world 2,000 years ago to die for our sins. “No, no, no, I won’t talk about my sacrifices.” Where would we be today? Isn’t it good that the Lord has told us how Jesus lived on earth, was tempted like us, suffered like us, and went through all that?

Following God’s Example in Sharing Sacrifices

Would you tell all that to your children? If you say, “No, no, no, I don’t want to tell all that,” well, God is a better Father than you. He tells us all that Jesus suffered on earth because that’s what makes us love Him. The more we hear how much Jesus went through for us, the more we love Him. Don’t try to be a better father than Jesus Christ or God is. We need to tell our children, to explain to them what all you have gone through for them from their childhood, so they learn to value and appreciate you. There is no self-denial in keeping quiet about it because then they will realize what you’ve sacrificed, and if they are grateful, they’ll appreciate it. That’s another part of being faithful as fathers.

Closing Blessing

And God bless us all.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu9G1fWpEaw

Speaker: Zac Poonen

Title: True Riches and Wise Fathers Date: 06/15/2025 Our Goal as Christians is this: To be an exact reflection of Jesus, the Son of God (Romans 8:29) We do this individually by growing in purity in our personal lives (1 John 3:2-3) We do this corporately by becoming fully functioning members of a local Church (Ephesians 4:11-16)