Seeing Material Things From Gods Viewpoint — Zac Poonen

Seeing Material Things From God's Viewpoint

So, we've been considering seeing things from God's viewpoint. And I'd like to turn to a very important verse, which I believe gives us the main reason why there's so much of shallowness in Christianity today and so much of shallowness in Christian preaching and so much of worldliness in the church.

It's Luke's Gospel, chapter 16. Luke 16 and verse 11. Here it says, If you, therefore, have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, and unrighteous mammon refers to wealth, which means money, property, anything that can be termed earthly wealth.

And if you have not been faithful in the use of earthly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon or earthly wealth. Now, the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and they were scoffing at him.

The Pharisees' Correct Doctrine and Corrupt Inner Life

You know, the Pharisees had all their doctrines right There were two good qualities among the Pharisees. Among all their bad qualities, which is a big list of them in Matthew 23, if you read carefully, there were two good qualities that they had.

So, I will show you that and then come back to this passage. In Matthew 23, Jesus said to the disciples, All that the Pharisees tell you to do, verse 3, do. So, just listen to that. Jesus is telling his disciples, not just to do what he taught them.

He says, do what the Pharisees tell you. Don't do according to their actions, but do what they say. Now, would Jesus say, everything that the Roman Catholics tell you to do, do it? Would he say that? Everything that the Jehovah's Witnesses say to you, do it?

Everything that the Greek Orthodox Church tells you to do, do it? No. Because he knows there are a lot of things in these groups that are not correct teaching. But when it came to the Pharisees, he said, everything they tell you to do, do.

Just don't follow their lives. So, what do we learn from that? That the Pharisees had all their doctrines correct. One good quality, it's good to have your doctrines right. Second thing we see in Matthew 23 and verse 25.

The scribes and Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish. That is our external life. But the inside is full of robbery and self-indulgence. So, he's talking about external life and inner life.

He was saying, your external life is clean. Is that a good thing or not? Is it good to have a good external testimony? Now, forget about the second part. But just this one part, you have a good testimony externally, you're not cheating, you're not telling lies, you're not committing adultery, you're not committing murder.

Your outside of your cup is clean. Who is giving that certificate? Jesus. Imagine if Jesus said to you, your doctrines are all right, your external testimony is absolutely spotless. Is that a good testimony or not?

And some of us glory in the fact our doctrines are all correct and our external testimony before others is good. You could still be an absolute Pharisee. Because the Pharisees were just like that. Their inner life, private life was corrupt.

Another thing he read in Luke chapter 16 is, they were lovers of money. Luke 16 and verse 14. So, their external life was good, like many of us. Their doctrines are all correct, like many of us. But they were lovers of money.

Again, possibly, like many of us. They can all go together, you know. A good external testimony before everybody in your church, absolute accuracy in doctrine. You're very careful to keep your doctrines right and you can be a thorough lover of money.

And one who crucifies Jesus. Pharisees crucified Jesus. And then Jesus told them, why did they scoff at him in verse 14? Because he said to them, as it were saying like this, your external life can be good, your doctrines can be right, but you are not able to serve God because no servant can serve two masters.

And the two masters are not God and Satan, but God and money. So, when we think of looking at everything, seeing everything from God's viewpoint, money is a major thing in this world. Wealth, property, houses, lands, stocks and shares, cars, all types of things.

These are major things that all of us are dealing with. And if we don't see this major area the way God sees it, we're not going to be able to get the true riches. That's the point. Verse 11, if you are not faithful in the use of earthly wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

The True Riches: Christlike Character and Revelation

So let's try and find out what are the true riches. What do you think are the greatest riches that God can give us? I've thought about that. When I come to a verse like this, let me give you an example of meditating on God's word.

I come to a verse like this and I stop. And I begin to think, what are the true riches which I want? I want, number one, to become like Jesus Christ in my character, inside and outside. I cannot make myself like Christ, God has to make me.

So I say, Lord, you've got to give me these true riches. Number one, to become like Jesus Christ in my inner attitude, motive, and in all my personality. Secondly, I want revelation on the word of God.

When I read the Bible, I don't want to read like the Pharisees and just get all my doctrines right. I want the Holy Spirit to give me light on God's word, to show me Jesus in the scriptures. Luke 24, it says here that Jesus, after his resurrection, was walking to Emmaus.

No, there were two disciples walking to Emmaus. I think they were husband and wife, because they were living in the same house. And as they were walking to Emmaus, Jesus walked with them, Luke 24, verse 13 onwards.

Verse 15, Jesus approached, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. They did not know it was Jesus. And then he talked a little bit with them, and then it says here, in verse 27, now listen, this distance in verse 13, you must watch these little things, the distance from Emmaus to Jerusalem was seven miles.

Now this is something you've got to stop and think. Seven miles, okay. So how long did it take for them to walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus? At a leisurely pace, three hours. You can't walk at a leisurely pace more than two miles an hour.

And verse 27, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, which means Genesis to Malachi, that's the meaning of that phrase. That means the entire Old Testament. That means the entire Bible of that time.

He took the entire Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi, and he explained to them, read slowly, the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. Christ in all the scriptures. He began with Genesis and told them, see, when the father spoke about the seed of the woman, that's me.

He didn't say that's me, they didn't know it was Jesus. That is the Messiah. In Exodus, you come to the Passover lamb, that's the Messiah. You come to Leviticus, you see the sin offering, that's the Messiah.

You come to Numbers and the serpent lifted up in the wilderness and the rock smitten, that's Christ. And like that all the way right up to Malachi or Isaiah 53, the servant sufferings, or Malachi. Read about the son of righteousness arising.

Every book of the Old Testament, he said Christ is there. Three hours he took a Bible study on the entire Old Testament scriptures showing Jesus everywhere. Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ. Do you think the Holy Spirit could today show us Christ in all those books?

Why not? Because today it's the Holy Spirit who does that job. That time it was Jesus himself doing it, the second person of the Trinity. Now it's the third person of the Trinity. And not only from Genesis to Malachi, but from Genesis to Revelation today.

Not just to get doctrine, but to show me Christ in every page of scripture. And is this a boring study? Is it just a dry Bible study? No. Because they said, verse 32, our hearts were burning within us when he was explaining the scriptures.

You know Bible study is supposed to make our hearts burn. Not just instruct our minds with a lot of information. I don't want to sit in a Bible study where some guy gives me some academic information on scripture.

When I was young, I looked at a number of Bible commentaries and I rejected every one of them. Because they were all speaking to my head. And I said, I don't want anything speaking to my head. I want something that makes my heart to burn.

When Jesus explained the scriptures, their hearts were burning. It doesn't say their minds were instructed. So, I found all these commentaries were all, most of them intellectual. Now and then, I would find one commentary on one book, which was speaking to the heart.

But I never in my life found a commentary as a young man that spoke to my heart from Genesis to Revelation. Every book was speaking to my heart. That's one reason why I made this commentary. There may be others, I don't know.

But I couldn't find one in English in my younger days. I wanted something that would make my heart burn as I read every book of the Bible. And I can tell you that as I've studied the Bible, God has shown me that revelation on scripture is another of the riches God can give us.

Turn back to Luke 16. The true riches, we're thinking of the true riches. In God's viewpoint, looking at things from God's viewpoint, what are the true riches from God's viewpoint on this earth? One, character, likeness to Christ.

Two, revelation on the word of God, so that when I read the scriptures, the Holy Spirit shows me the glory of Jesus Christ. From every book, the same thing what Jesus did for those two disciples, the Holy Spirit can do for me today.

Bible School, Titles, and the Brotherhood of Christ

I remember when I left the Navy in 1966. There were people who said to me, Brother Zach, you can't serve God unless you first go to a Bible school. Then only people will accept you. You've got to get a degree from a Bible school.

I said, which disciple did Jesus send to a Bible school? Nobody. Which prophet in the Old Testament came out of a Bible school? Not even one. All the false prophets came from the Bible school. It's true.

Samuel started a school of the prophets because there were no prophets in those days. It's called the school of the prophets. You read of the school of the prophets in the book of Elisha. You know those people who wanted to build an extension for their Bible school and their axe fell into the river and Elisha came and made it float.

Those were Bible school students. They would go through the Bible school and get that degree and they became the false prophets. In the courts of the kings. But the true prophets like Elisha and Elijah, they never came from a Bible school.

Moses. No. None of them. So I said I'm not going to go to a Bible school. Secondly, I said 99 .9 of believers in churches have never been to a Bible school. What am I going to tell them? Am I going to tell them you'll never be able to know the Bible unless you go to a Bible school?

That's not my message. I want to be an example to them to show you can know the Bible without going to a Bible school. That's why I decided never to go. And I said I don't want any degree. I don't want any title.

I don't want to. Some time ago I got a letter from a Christian Bible college in America saying Brother Zach, we've seen your books and heard your ministry. We want to give you an honorary doctorate. So you'll be known as Dr. Zach Poonen.

I threw it in the trash. I said I want to be known as Brother Zach until the end of my life. I don't want any earthly title. What's it for? To impress who? Jesus said I do not receive testimony from men.

I see the craze today even among so-called preachers to get some title to impress people. Don't think I'm an ordinary man. I'm Dr. So-and-so. And Jesus never taught that type of stuff. You see how people have gone astray.

I said do you know what the meaning of brother is? The Bible says that Jesus is the elder brother. On the day of the resurrection was the first time he told Mary Magdalene go and tell my brothers that I've risen from the dead.

That was the first time he called his disciples my brothers. In John 15, just three days earlier, the last supper, he said till now I call you servants, today I call you friends. Servants, friends. Still not brothers.

After the resurrection, three days later, brothers. You see what happened in the resurrection. Why brothers? Because now he was not just their master. He was not just their friend. He was their elder brother.

Romans 8, 29 says God has predestined us to become conformed to the likeness of Christ so that, Romans 8, 29, that he might be the firstborn or the eldest among many brothers. So Jesus is an elder brother.

And when you call me brother, you're calling me younger brother of Jesus Christ. When I call you brother, I'm calling you a younger brother of Jesus Christ. When I call you a sister, I'm calling you a younger sister of Jesus Christ.

So I tell people, don't call me by these lowdown titles like reverend and doctor and pastor and all that rubbish. Call me brother. There is no greater title than that. You tell me, is there a greater title than younger brother of Jesus Christ?

Try and find one. There isn't. Why do you call me by other titles? I'm not interested. That's all for worldly people who have not understood the word of God. There are many things in Christendom today which the apostles would have nothing to do with.

Imagine giving Peter a title like doctor. I mean, today people study the book of Peter to get a doctorate. But he himself would never have got such a degree. This is the way in which Christendom has drifted completely away from God.

The Anointing and Power of the Holy Spirit

What are the true riches? Likeness to Christ. Revelation on the word of God. Not just academic study of it. And thirdly, the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit. The mighty supernatural power of the Holy Spirit that equips you to serve God.

And I don't believe there's any human ability that can replace the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I would never dream of getting into a pulpit without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I would say, I don't want to go there and preach if you don't anoint me.

If you don't give me the gift of prophecy, if you don't give me a word according to the need of the people sitting there and I don't even know what their need is, I will not go. You better send somebody else.

Lord, I will not go. I'd rather sit at home and do something else. It's a sin to preach without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I believe that. You just communicate academic knowledge to people. They've got enough knowledge.

You don't need to add more to that. There's enough depth in the church already. Don't add to it. If you go into the church, go with life. That's why I say, seek for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Fast and pray.

Lay hold of God. And say, Lord, I will not go there till you anoint me. Those are the people who God really met and anointed. You know, when I was young, I read about the testimony of these men who cried out to God for the power of the Holy Spirit and prayed and fasted and how God met with them.

And such a longing came into my young heart. I was just 21, 22, and I said, Lord, I want that. What's the use living on earth and trying to serve you, preaching without that anointing? I want that anointing more than anything else.

So these are the true riches. Likeness to Christ, revelation on God's word, more than academic knowledge of it, and the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit. And how do we get it? It says in Luke 16, verse 11, you have to be faithful with material things in order to get the true spiritual riches.

Faithfulness With Material Things

So when I see people who are not becoming like Christ, who when they speak, there's no revelation on God's word, just some academic knowledge. And there's no anointing and freshness in their ministry.

You know, one of the wonderful things about the anointing and freshness is you can hear the same message the 10th time and there'll be a freshness in it. Same message. And you will not say, oh, I heard it before.

Maybe you did. But there'll be a freshness. It's like the manna. Do you know the manna was the same shape, the same taste, same color every day for 40 years. But every day it was fresh. Why? Because it came from heaven.

And when something comes from heaven, even if it's the same shape, same color, same taste, it will be fresh. I've met one or two people like that in my life. If they preached the same message, there'd be an anointing there because they were in touch with God.

There are others I've heard. They preach different messages. There's no anointing in any of them. And I know why. I know. Even though I don't know anything about their private life, I can say you have not been faithful with money.

You have not been faithful with material things. That is why there's no anointing in your ministry. That's why you have no revelation on God's Word. You never discover anything new in God's Word. You never discover anything that changes your life.

Maybe you can read the Bible and get a bright idea. Do you know the difference between a bright idea and a revelation of God on Scripture? The difference is a bright idea doesn't change your life. If you get a revelation on something in Scripture, it'll change your life.

So as I began to seek God for this, I said, Lord, I want this. And the Lord said to me, You've got to be faithful with money. So I began to meditate on that, to see money as God sees it, to see material things as God sees it, to look at things.

I mean, to be like Jesus means what? It means to look at material things the way Jesus looked at it. Jesus was not a homeless person out on the streets. Never. He honored God, and if you honor God, you'll never be a homeless person.

That I can guarantee. Poverty doesn't mean you'll be a homeless person. Jesus was poor, but He was not homeless. He had enough money with Him to give to the poor and by the needs of all His 12 disciples and their families.

Yeah, but He never asked anybody for money, not even once. Did He tell anybody His needs? Nowhere did He ask or tell about His ministry or Judas Iscariot. He would never allow Judas Iscariot to talk about it in the way a lot of people talk about their ministry today.

Oh, these are the great needs. I'm doing great work for God in Africa or India and all this type of stuff. You hear it today and you swallow it. But where do you see that in the Bible? Tell me one place in the Bible where any true prophet said that.

Don't you think those guys had a much greater ministry than everybody who claims to have a great ministry today? There's an evangelist here in America who was asked once, why do you ask for so much money from everybody?

Jesus never asked anyone. He said, well, Jesus didn't have a great television ministry like I have. So His ministry has become greater than the ministry of Jesus. Wow. I wonder where that is heading. Can we change the principles of Scripture in order to do something which we feel needs to be done?

There's a phrase in English called the end justifies the means. The philosophy of the world is the end justifies the means. That means if the end you have in mind, if the goal is good, it doesn't matter how you reach it.

You can tell lies, cheat, anything, but get there. That's exactly what is being followed in a lot of Christian work today and missionary work. The end, saving souls, helping people, taking care of orphans, and all that is a great end, is a great goal.

I mean, isn't it a wonderful thing to bring people to Christ and preach the gospel and take care of orphans and the needy everywhere? Good goal. How to get there? Can we get there by any type of means, unscriptural means, means that, I mean, methods that Jesus would never approve of, that he himself never practiced, or apostles never practiced?

So compare yourself, compare what is happening today in Christendom with the way Jesus and the apostles did God's work. I don't believe there was a greater ministry that anybody has accomplished in this world than the ministry of Jesus Christ, even if he didn't have television ministries.

And you'll see finally in the end how much has come out of all this. I don't believe any apostle had a greater ministry than the apostle Paul. And the only two people in the New Testament who said, follow me.

Jesus said, follow me. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, follow me as I follow Christ. They set an example as to how we are to serve the Lord. And they were very, very faithful in the area of money.

It's very important. The reason I say that is because in Luke 16, verse 13, he says, no servant can serve two masters and the two masters are not God and Satan. Nobody in the world believes you can serve God and Satan at the same time.

He said the two masters are God and money and a lot of people think you can serve God and money simultaneously and Jesus said no. But yet, we have to use money on this earth. And Jesus has been an example for us because he was a carpenter for much longer than he was a full-time worker.

He was a full-time worker for three and a half years and he was a carpenter for, I don't know, maybe he started working when he was 15 up to the age of 30, maybe 12 to 15 years after Joseph died, he earned the living.

He had a mother, four younger brothers and two sisters to look after. It was a pretty large family, eight-member family and Jesus was the eldest brother and eldest son and he had to earn his living and he showed us how to earn a living and be upright.

He took care of his needs. And then as a full-time worker for three and a half years, not just his needs but the needs of 12 disciples and many of them are married like Peter, their families. But never once did he violate scriptural principles when it came to material things.

Jesus' Example in Using Money

In John's Gospel, chapter 13, verse 29, we find a little expression and in that expression you get a hint as to how Jesus used money. You know, the context is, Jesus told Judas, whatever you want to do, verse 27, go and do quickly.

He was telling him, OK, you want to betray me, go and do that. But the people at the table, the others 11, did not know, verse 28, what was the meaning of that statement. They thought, because Judas was the treasurer, that Jesus was telling him, buy the things you need for the feast or give something to the poor.

Notice those two statements. Buy what you need and give to the poor. How did they think that Jesus was telling Judas to do that? Because all the three and a half years, they had seen him doing two things with money.

Buy what you need, give to the poor. Only two things. Buy what you need, give to the poor. So I learned something from that. I learned that this is how I can follow Jesus in the use of money that I have.

Buy what I need, give to the poor. I don't have to judge another person. Another person may need two or three cars in his house. Because his wife and children are working and public transport is not available.

I'm not here to judge him. I don't need a single car in my home and I don't have one. But I'm not here to judge another fellow who's got three cars. That's his business. I don't have to judge what he needs.

He needs it. I don't have to decide whether he needs a four bedroom house or a one bedroom house. That's his choice. I have to judge only myself. I have to buy what I need and give to the poor. Those are the only two things I have to do with my money.

So the question comes, are we permitted to save money? Or do we have to spend it as soon as we get it? But the very fact that Jesus had a treasurer who kept money proves that there was a saving. Judas Iscariot was running a sort of a savings bank.

He was cheating out of it. It was a sort of a cheating bank. But there was money there that he was saving for maybe the next week or the next month. Because he was not getting a regular income or salary.

People were giving to him at different times and he trusted the Father. And he had the responsibility to make sure that none of these people starved and none of their families starved. They had given up their fishing and other things.

And the Lord is going to take care of their families. Now this is very practical because we deal with money all the time. So Jesus' example is very great. To look at money the way God looks at it. Why does he give it to us?

So we need to understand this. As a carpenter, I believe he was tempted. Like we are tempted to. Do you think Jesus was tempted to cheat when he worked as a carpenter? If he was not, then he was not tempted like us.

All human beings are tempted in the same way as Jesus was. To tell lies, to cheat. To be tempted doesn't mean you are bad. When Adam was tempted, he was not sinning. And he was tempted, they were not sinning.

It's when they yielded to that temptation, they sinned. So when you are tempted by something, it doesn't mean anything. So Jesus was tempted and he never yielded. He never cheated anybody in his carpentry work.

Teaching me that I must never cheat anybody in my life if I'm in business. And we read in Luke 8 when he was in full-time work. You see this example of how he was supported. Luke 8 and verse 3. Joanna, the wife of Cusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna and many others, contributed to Jesus in the support of his disciples out of their private means.

That means they gave money to Jesus to support him and his disciples. He never asked for it. But see how God arranged for some very rich people. You need a lot of money to take care of 12 people and their families.

Here was a rich man, Herod's palace manager. I don't know what his salary was. It must have been a tremendous amount of money he earned if he was the palace manager of Herod. And his wife was a follower of Jesus and his wife said, Hey, can I give some money to Jesus for support?

He said, Sure. See how God can move people to provide the need, the way he provided the need of Jesus. He can provide anybody's need today. That's what we learned today. And that is what every preacher and full-time worker should be able to demonstrate in their life.

That if I trust God, I never need to ask anybody on earth for money. It's not going to drop from heaven like the manna. No, Jesus did not get money dropping from heaven. He got it through people, but he never told them his need.

And he never asked for it. He never published reports about his ministry to indirectly hint that people should support him. Never. All this that you see in Christendom today and missionary reports, you never find one atom of support for it in the New Testament.

That is the truth. And yet, everybody seems to blindly follow it. Well, I'm not here to judge them. My point is, has Jesus come to earth to be an example for us? And that's why I said, does the end justify the means?

That means if your ultimate goal is good, to plant churches, to win people to Christ, to take care of orphans, does it say it doesn't matter how you get there? You can do all types of wrong things which Jesus did not do.

In that case, you might as well cheat and tell lies and give false reports. Give false reports that thousands are getting converted when nobody is getting converted. You'll get more money. That is the end justifying the means, and a lot of people are doing that.

They say our ultimate goal is good, so it doesn't matter how we get there. And that is how Christendom has sunk to the low level it is today. So if we want to, if we believe that it is more important to maintain a pure testimony for Christ, that quality is more important than quantity.

The Quality of Christian Work

Numbers is not what God looks for. The Bible says in the final day, God will put everything into the fire. All our work will be put into the fire. And we read in 1 Corinthians in chapter 3. You see, this is very important for us whether you're in Christian work or not.

1 Corinthians 3, verse 12. A man can build, I'm paraphrasing it, with gold, silver, precious stones, or with wood, hay, and straw. But whatever he does, every man's work will become evident. Because in that day, it will be tested by fire, and the fire will test not the quantity of your work, but the quality of your work.

Now I wonder how many people in Christendom, particularly with all our mega churches today, which boast that we've got 30 ,000 people and 20 ,000 people and all that, are they disciples? Are they 20 ,000 people who are overcoming sin in their daily life?

Are they 20 ,000 people who don't watch pornography, and have overcome sexual lust, and overcome anger, and overcome bitterness? What is God looking for? Huge quantity of wood, hay, and straw, or a little bit of gold, silver, and precious stones.

The fire in the final day will test the quality of every preacher's work, and all the churches you belong to, and all the churches you're a part of, and whatever ministry you're engaged in, or partaking in, or whatever ministry you support financially.

Believe it or not, the fire of God will test the quality of that work. Not how many people came to that church, but rather what type of people were they? Not the quantity, but the quality. Because fire is not impressed by quantity.

You put a ton of wood, hay, and straw, it just gets burnt up. It's all ashes. But you put a few ounces of gold and silver, it remains. So it's very important for us to understand that if a man's work remains, verse 14, he receives a reward.

And if a man's work is burnt up, he may be saved. Verse 15, he goes to heaven alright, but his entire life's work is burnt up. You may say, well he went to heaven. Now imagine, supposing finally, I mean I've been serving the Lord 51 years.

And I stand before the Lord, final day, and the Lord examines my work as it says He will do here. And the Lord says, okay Zach, you're going to heaven. You're born again. You're saved. But now I want to examine your work.

And all the work I did for the Lord in 51 years is burnt up. Completely. Because it was very poor quality. I never made disciples. I just told them, okay, except Christ it's okay. Now let's go on. Let's bring more people to Christ.

And I never led them to a victorious life. They were like wood, hay, and straw. All my work. How will I feel in heaven, even if I went to heaven? Tell me how you will feel in that day, if your entire life's work is burnt up.

I don't think I'm going to feel very happy. And I don't think I'm going to be very, very happy in all eternity in heaven, even if I manage to get there. Because to me, as I said even earlier, getting to heaven is not the goal of my life.

I say, Lord, you gave me one life on earth. I have to show my gratitude to you for what you did for me. And I'm not going to show my gratitude by giving you some third-rate work. Think of the work we give.

I look at it like this. The work I do for the Lord, for my Lord and King, is like a very precious gift I'm giving Him. Now, supposing you are giving a gift to someone who's done a tremendous lot for you, someone who sacrificed a lot for you, what type of gift would you give that person?

Would you give him some third-rate, cheap gift, counterfeit stuff with painted gold paint on it? Or would you give him some very valuable gift? What type of gift would you give to someone whom you value very much?

What type of gift would you give to the Lord? I don't want to give him some third-rate stuff. So you see, the quality of our work is very important. And all of us are doing something for the Lord. So it's very important the way we look at material things, because God cannot give us true riches if I don't learn how to handle money properly.