Here we are in Luke chapter 12. Again, let me remind you of the context. We saw this last night. Luke chapter 12. Would you look with me again in verse number one? In the meantime, when they were gathered together, an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say unto his, who? There's a huge crowd if you weren't here last night. This is the verse we keyed off and then we looked through verses 1-12. There's this huge crowd. And yet Jesus is talking to disciples. And for those of you who weren't here last night, we talked about what a disciple is, and what a disciple is not. We talked about the problems that a disciple faces, and how you're going to be hated, it's not going to be fun, you're not going to get provision like you thought, and you're going to be treated as Jesus was. You're going to have to hate everything, and in fact, you've got to be willing to die to everything, and forsake all, or you can't be Jesus' disciple. Wow, who would want to be a disciple? And then we saw what Jesus does here in Luke 12, how he sets forth and says, hey, when you follow me, I see there's reality. There's also relationship. You're my friends. There's also recognition. And there's also a fact that I'm going to represent you. God sees, God knows. And that's where we were last night. But look with me what the Bible says in verse number 13. It's no accident. This is not just a happenstance type of thing. God, under inspiration, directed Luke to include this parable, this little interlude in the following teaching, in context of where we are here. Again, look what it says beginning in verse 13. And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. There's a dispute among a family member over an inheritance. I don't know about you, but my family has had distant family and even extended family has had disputes over inheritance. And that's common, even still today. Jesus, in verse 14, doesn't even get into the fray. He said unto him, man, who made me a judge or divider over you? And he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Father, would you help us to examine our own life? Would you help us to examine tonight our own fears? And would we see perhaps the biggest obstacle in following you often is covetousness, it's materialism, it's stuff, it's money. Help us to see the position here and help us to grow in grace and faith. Help us to be different because of your word. And Lord, we need you. I need you. In Jesus' name, amen. Jesus here is talking and he begins to speak this parable, and some of you would know this, but notice what the Bible says beginning in verse 16. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. Now let me ask you, is it wrong for a person to be rich? No, it's not. Is it wrong for a farmer to be successful? No. I read this morning where God blessed both Isaac and Jacob. And one of the years, Isaac brought forth a hundredfold. That's a pretty good blessing, isn't it? It's a pretty good crop return. But that's not wrong. That's not the problem. Here's the problem. Look at verse number 18. Verse number 17, he thought with himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, This night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? In other words, you could translate that last phrase, who's going to get your junk? Right? Somebody else is. Notice verse 21. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Now obviously Jesus, as we know from other places, used parables at times to veil truth, to hide truth. Other times he used it to explain truth. And he spoke parables so the learned and even the spiritual would get it and the masses would just think, well that's an interesting story. And remember who he's talking to. There's this large crowd. And somebody of the crowd says, Lord, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. And Jesus says, I'm not even going to touch that. And he begins to get into this parable about the ground of a certain rich farmer who thought within himself, I've got this together. I don't need God. I'm good. I've got stuff. Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who's going to get your junk? People are going to sort through it in an estate auction. It's going to go back to goodwill. You're not going to keep it. And what you want to keep oftentimes, what you want to pass on to your kids, the government taxes. You can't take it with you. And then notice what it says again in verse 22. And he said unto his disciples. So he's speaking to his disciples up through verse 12, and he's encouraging them, and encouraging them, and finally somebody interrupts him, God, speak to my brother. He doesn't even touch him, he gives him this parable. And then what does he do? He goes back to speaking to the disciples. Now is this just a random interruption? Is this just by happenstance? Is this just parable, oops, Luke's thinking, oh, I gotta put this parable in somewhere, let me just put it right here. Do you think that's the way it works? No. I would submit to you based on the flow here and what Jesus begins to teach on to his disciples that perhaps the biggest reason, the biggest problem, the biggest issue that you and I have of actually being a disciple is this issue right here. Covetousness, materialism, stuff. And Jesus doesn't even address the question. He doesn't get into it. He gives a parable about the ground of a rich farmer who did plentifully, but the man's heart was not right toward God. He wasn't rich toward God. And then he gets back speaking to disciples. He gets back going to the people that he's come for. And he gives us this incredible command, and I want you to see this command, and I want you to see for what it is. And he said unto his disciples, verse 22, Therefore I say unto you, can you say those next words with me? Take no thought for your life. Can you say those words again with me? Take no thought for your life. Very literally, he says, don't worry. Don't worry. Take no thought for your life what you shall eat, neither for the body what you shall put on. The life is more than meat and the body more than raiment. What you and I have is bigger than what we wear, it's bigger than the house we have, it's bigger than the car we drive, it's bigger than the size of our bank account. Don't worry. That's the command. And we see very clearly right off the bat that worry simply is disobedience. When God's people worry, it's disobedient. We are disobeying directly what Jesus said. And tonight, there's individuals in the auditorium who have worried about bills. We have fretted over house repairs. We've struggled or questioned over vehicle repairs. We've lost sleep over where the money's going to come from. We've had emotional language over financial matters. We've wished ourselves to be in a different financial position. We've schemed about how we can get ahead. And we thought that life's problems would go away if only we had, and we have this magic number of money in our mind that we think that that's what we need if life's problems were to go away. How do you know there's people like that here tonight, Brent? Because I am here. What is that? It's disobedience. Paul said in other places in 1 Timothy, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and are certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, literally food and clothing. How many of you ate today? How many of you are covered? How many of you have a place to sleep? Okay. Right there, you meet the qualifications for being content, period. But Brent, I don't have the latest iPhone 3GX4517 model. I don't either. But Brent, I don't have the latest sports car. I don't have the nicest. I don't either. I don't either. But can I draw our attention back to what we talked about Sunday morning? This world is not our home. We're just passing through. We're strangers and pilgrims. having food and raiment, we should be content. Because that's all we need. And God tells his disciples, he says to his disciples, remember he's talking to disciples here. He's not talking to the masses. This is not a promise for the masses. He says, hey, if you're going to follow me, if you're going to passionately be a learner, a scholar, a follower and follow Christ with your life, don't worry. Don't worry. And yet so often we live our life in worry. If that's you and I, be honest. We've broken God's law. We've been guilty of the sin of covetousness. We thought ourselves to be better if we only had this, if only we didn't have to deal with this. If we could get out of this or out from under this, don't worry. And I would submit to you that in the flow of this passage, in the context that Jesus is talking about, this again is perhaps one of the biggest challenges, one of the biggest distractions from you and I being a disciple of Christ is money, is stuff, materialism, covetousness. So often, God works in a person's heart early on, but then they get busy, they get going, and they add all these things to their life, and they want to serve God, but they can't because, oh, I got this mortgage, I got this payment, I got this, I got this. And they're so distracted, and God says, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't worry. But Brent, if you follow God, how are you going to provide? I've seen it for the past 17, 18 years now. I've seen God provide for our needs in amazing ways. And my kid's got to eat a little bit more than just peanut butter today, by the way. God has provided for our needs in amazing, amazing, amazing ways. And I'm not perfect. I'm not the example to follow here, but God will provide. Follow Him. And yet, we worry. How are we going to do this? Where's the money going to come from? We worry. As I've already mentioned, most of people's lives today can be summed up with the three words, hurry, worry, and then bury. So often, that's the way it is. We hurry, we worry, and before we know it, we're buried. Yet our life is much more than that. Our life is much bigger than that. Our life is much more important than that. The command, don't worry. Jesus then begins to give us considerations. Look at verse 24. Consider the ravens. Now, I don't know specifically which black bird is being discussed here. I'm not an expert, an ornithology expert on the birds of the Holy Land. But we all know what blackbirds are, don't we? And perhaps the ravens here are the species, perhaps it's one specific bird, we're not exactly told. But the ravens or any blackbird, do you see a blackbird flying by and you go, yum, yum? No, they're not clean, they're disgusting. Consider the ravens, Jesus says, for they neither sow nor reap. Have you ever seen a tractor out in the field and you've looked in the tractor window? And if this ever happens, please take a picture and text me. But you've probably never seen this. I never have. You've never seen a tractor out in the field. You've looked in the window and there in the tractor, there's a raven driving the planter in the field come April, March, April. Have you ever seen that? No. Have you ever seen a raven in a combine in October going through the field? You ever seen a raven driving the combine? Have you ever seen a raven, or even any blackbird really, driving a grain wagon to the elevator and storing up the grain? Have you ever seen that? No. Will you ever see that? No. But notice again what God says here. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. What do ravens eat? Garbage. If you want to expand it out, you see the black birds on the side of the road picking up, ugh. You've never thought to yourself when you see that, oh, yuck, or even worse, you never thought to yourself like, oh man, let's get a fork, let's go join them. No, because that's disgusting. But next time you see a black bird picking up garbage or carry-on or something on the side of the road that's unidentifiable, why don't you think to yourself God's feeding them? Next time you see a black bird annoying and squawking and eating garbage, God's feeding them. Last night we talked about the sparrows. If the sparrow, small sparrow, insignificant sparrow will fall and God takes care of it, don't you think God will take care of you? You're of more value than many sparrows. Consider the ravens. Secondly, we're told in verse number 25, and consider your stature, consider your growth. Look what it says there. And which of you, with taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? How many of you, by thinking about it tonight, could grow? Whenever I read this, I think of the playground lining up for recess and getting pointed out for kickball. I don't think it's politically correct anymore to line up tallest to shortest. That would probably be offending somebody. But you know, back in grade school, you line up tallest to shortest, and I was always at the top, so I just naturally went to the front of the line. One, two, one, two, one, two. And then there's those kids that just know they're short, and they just go to the back of the line. I know I'm short. And then you have the kids in the middle who think, I'm taller than you, and they automatically grow. It's time to get picked. and they try to grow. Well, you can't think about this, I'm gonna grow. No, you can't think about it. We can think about it this way sometimes, but not this way. What part of your height did you have an option to choose? Did any of you have an option to choose your height? No. Can any of you now today, or even your children while they're still growing, can they choose how tall they are? No. Notice the truth there. There in Luke chapter 12, again in verse 25. And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Hey, Jesus is teaching his disciples. Hey, consider the ravens. Consider your growth. Your father grows you. Your father's in charge of all that. Consider the ravens. Your father knows what the ravens are feeding, and God feedeth them. You're much better than that. God's taking care of you. We see that worry is not only disobedient, worry is unfaithful. Worry also is ineffective. It doesn't do anything. You can't change anything with worry. It's ineffective. It doesn't do anything. Recently I heard about a man from years ago, decades, perhaps even centuries ago, who determined in his life that he was too busy in his life to worry about everything. You know, oftentimes we get a lot of things, and a lot of people spend a lot of their time worrying. If you really want to keep track, keep track of how much time we worry about things, and think, and meditate, and pray. Well, I'm praying about this. No, are we really, or are we just worrying about it? But this man determined, you know, I'm too busy to worry about it. So he made a list of things that he needed to worry about. He said, I'm not going to worry about anything throughout the week. I'm going to pick one hour on Wednesday afternoon to worry about things. And he did it. He wrote it down. If something came to his brain, oh, no. He wrote it down. He said, I'm going to wait till Wednesday afternoon to worry about it. You know what he found? By the time Wednesday afternoon came along, the problem had already resolved itself. It wasn't worth worrying about. Jesus tells his disciples, don't worry, don't fret. How are we gonna pay for this? How are we gonna do this? Oh, God, I would serve you, but you know, we got this mortgage, we got this, and I don't know how I'm gonna, I would give more in the offering, I would give more in admissions, but you know, the kids, and we got this, and the car repair, and I, you know, I got that fund, I gotta be careful, I gotta protect this. I need to be good stewards. What is that? I am not saying that we're not supposed to be good stewards, but we're supposed to follow Christ wholly. We're not supposed to be consumed. Consider the ravens. Consider your stature. It can't do anything. Worry is ineffective. But thirdly, look at verse 27. Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not. They spin not. And did I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these? I love lilies. We have daffodils here and I love daffodils. Daffodils are one of those things that, you know, reminds you spring is coming, right? A little crocus and the miniature daffodils and the full-size daffodils pop up. And I love the bouquet here, the different colors, the butter color and the yellow color. I love daffodils because it shows. Spring's coming. In a few weeks, tulips are going to start popping. Then the irises. I know that lily is a broad term. And then some of you may have planted Asiatic lilies. I love day lilies. And I collected hostas and day lilies back when we had a house in Indiana. And I had dozens of varieties of each. I love them because you put them in the ground, you walk away from them, and they grow. They're great things. But consider the lily. Have you ever considered a lily? Have you ever seen a lily? in front of the makeup mirror doing its makeup? Have you? Will you? Consider the lilies. They grow. They don't do a thing about it. They don't worry. They don't toil. They don't spin. They don't make their own clothes. They don't try to get the bloomers all covered. Do they? And Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. How many lilies are out in the field even right now in central Indiana? I don't know, tens of thousands of daffodils, and they come in different lilies throughout the year. God takes care of the lilies. God takes care of the lilies, and Solomon couldn't even touch what this one lily is like. Don't you think he'll take care of you? Consider the lilies. If God takes care of them, He'll take care of you. I want you to see the fourth thing that Jesus tells us to consider. I'm gonna try to get that in there and back into the water. Here we go. Look at your text again. Look at Luke chapter 12, verse number 28. If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more shall He clothe you, will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? Worry is not only ineffective, worry does nothing. Worry is unnecessary. If God takes care of the grass, we're tempted when we drive by a field that is not being mowed or not being cared for. We're tempted to think to ourselves, nobody's taking care of that grassy field right now, and that's where we're wrong, because who's taking care of it? God is. According to the text, God is taking care of the grass, which today is in the field, tomorrow it's mowed down, it's cast in the oven, it's used for fodder, it's used for weed, it's used for all different things, it's used to heat the homes, whatever the case is. If God takes care of that, how much more will He take care of you, O ye of little faith? Hey, if God takes care of the grass, don't you think He can take care of your needs? And we also see that worry is worldly. Notice what it says in verse number 30. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after. Worry is worldly. Worry is what this world does. Worry is how this world goes and works, and they try, and they scheme, and you know, gotta do this, and gotta get this, and gotta get here, and gotta get here, and I gotta make this, you know, have you ever been in line for Black Friday? I know Black Friday over the past couple decades has changed, the last decade has changed because of the online stuff, but do you remember the lines before this, you know, everything happened? I gotta get this, I gotta get this, the fighting, the infighting, I gotta get, what is that? That is not what God has called you and I to. That's what the world does. Worry is worldly. Consider your Father. Look what it says there. Again in verse 29. Verse 28, excuse me, verse 29. And seek ye not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, neither be of a doubtful mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after. And your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. So often in life we want to take something on ourselves and we want to worry about it. You know what it is? Worry is unnecessary. Worry is not only disobedient, worry is unnecessary. It's also worldly. Worry does absolutely nothing. It can't change anything. And so often we worry, worry, worry, worry, and we worry our world away. And Jesus is telling his disciples, he's pulling them up by the roots, and the roots are in this world, and I gotta make this, I gotta do this, I gotta provide here, I gotta do this. And Jesus is pulling them up by the roots, and he's shaking the dirt of the world off the roots. He's saying, no, no, no, I'm pulling you up, and I'm putting you back in me. I'm planting you in myself so you don't have to worry like the world does. You don't have to be like that. You can follow me. You can trust me. You can grow. You can thrive knowing me. You can walk with me. We see that the considerations, consider the ravens, consider your growth, consider the lilies, consider the grass, consider your father. But I want us to see in the few minutes we have left, the conclusion. Notice what it says in verse 31, but rather. What is that? Jesus is saying instead of worrying, instead of being like the world, instead of being torn apart, instead of being so consumed, I'm going to pay for this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to live here, I'm going to... Instead of running around like a chicken with your head cut off, but rather, look what the text says here in Luke chapter 12 verse 31, but rather, seek ye the kingdom of God. We know the parallel passage in Matthew 6, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And notice the phrase that's added there, and all these things shall be added unto you. Do you think our God is capable of taking care of our needs? Yes, of course, Brent, we believe God is able, God has provided, God can take care, but when we worry, we act like He doesn't. You may not be an atheist, you may not be an agnostic, but when we worry, it's practical atheism. It's practical agnosticism, it's worrying and saying, God, I don't think you're... Your God becomes down into your level. That's wrong. And I would submit to you tonight, friend, that that is the biggest thing that keeps God's people from living as a disciple, from following Him fully. It's covetousness, it's materialism, it's stuff. It's the tentacles of this world. I've got to get this. I've got to have this. How am I going to provide for this? What am I going to do? And I face this in my own life just as much as anybody else. We are praying that God would allow us to build a house in the next year or two years or three years. We're praying that God would even allow us to do it debt-free. How that's gonna happen, I don't know. And when I start to worry, maybe I can do this, maybe if I, and all of it is based on what I can accomplish, my self-will. God, I can't. I can't do this. God, I believe a house is in our family's future. We need a place to live that's not on wheels, eventually. But God, I'm gonna stop worrying, because my worry doesn't do anything except keep me up at night and give me heartburn, and pay for Tums, I guess, at Walmart. I'm going to follow you, I'm going to trust you because of what your promises say. Instead of worrying about this, instead of being so consumed about how I'm going to get ahead, how I'm going to pay for retirement, how I'm going to do this. But rather, seek ye first the kingdom of God. Instead of living like a ninny like this world wants you to do, invest your life, hazard your life in what really matters. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. And this is what Jesus is doing. He's commanding them, He's giving them all these considerations and He's setting them free. He's saying, hey, instead of living like the world does, You can live for me and I'll take care of every single one of your needs. You know Philippians 4.19, my God shall supply all your needs. You know what the context is of Philippians 4? Giving. The Philippians had been giving sacrificially as God's disciples, giving to God. And Paul promised them, because you're giving, because you're sacrificing, because you're being a disciple, God's going to meet your needs. Brent, what do you do about retirement? Haven't actually found that in the Bible. Wait a minute. My retirement's not here. My retirement is literally out of this world. Do you know what that means? There's going to come a time where I'm not going to be physically able to do what I'm doing now. I get that. And you can't either. But that means I can even in my final years where fears start to grow and where medical issues and problems start to come up. Don't worry. Because after all, when I breathe my last and close my eyes, who's got me? He does. He will receive me. He'll take me to glory. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Hallelujah. You know, I am planning to build a house, and every night I spend about 10 minutes looking at house plans. I've got a sketch in my mind what I'm doing. I've got some energy efficiency things I want to do. But you know one of the most comforting verses right now, John 14. I go to prepare a place for you. I think Jesus probably is a better builder than I'm going to be. better house designer than I am, and I'm not going to have to pay taxes up there, are you? No property taxes and income taxes and sales tax on the money you already got paid taxes. No, instead of living like, how am I gonna cover this? No, no, seek God's kingdom first. It's a revolutionary mindset. It is worldly to be worried down here and Jesus is shaking his disciples and he's saying, hey, you can trust me. And you know what they did? They abandoned all. And whether these disciples were the 12 or the 120, I'm not sure, but those men hazarded their life and they paid with it. Every single one of them suffered immensely. Oh, what losers. what winners in God's eyes who laid down their life. That's what being a disciple means. It's quite possible that God has been working in some of your hearts and shaking some of you from your comfort, even this week. And you need to follow Christ. You need to honor Him. You need to walk with Him. But in the back of your mind, you're thinking, how am I going to do this money-wise? I've seen this over and over again when people feel God wants them to go on a mission trip with me and they say, Brent, I don't know where the money's going to come from. And I say, God will provide. If it's God's will, He will provide. I've come to look at budgeting somewhat different because our budget is not consistent. Here's what we do. If it's a need, we buy it. Because God has promised he will meet every single one of our needs. If it's a want, I pray about it. And yes, we do pray, God, would you meet our needs, like the model purse says. But if it's a need, if I need a tire, if I need something, if I need a part, and you know the money's gonna be tight, I just buy it because that's a need. And when you determine that this is a need, it makes it easy. And by the way, everything we have, your house, your car, everything, your kids, they're God's, they're not yours. And when we give ownership back to God of what actually is His, you know what happens? It makes life a lot easier. God, your truck has a problem. And it's your truck, and it has a problem, and actually, God, you don't have problems, so there's no big deal. I don't have to worry about it. Oh, Brent, that's just sticking your head in the sand. No, that's biblical. Your house, God, your tuition payments are coming due, God. And it's a need. And I don't know where it's going to come from, but it's a need. And you don't have problems. And you've led and you've guided. And I'm your disciple. I'm following and walking with you. And I know my God will provide all my needs, period. It's an amazing, liberating truth when we understand it. Notice what the text says there in verse number 30. Verse 31, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Look at what it says in verse 32. Fear not, little flock. Don't worry about the size of it. Don't worry about how many people accept your ministry. Don't worry about how many people reject your ministry. Don't worry about the size of your ministry. Well, you know, in order to be validated, I have to have all these people who, you know, validate me. No. No, no, no. Fear not, little flock. It's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. He's going to do what he said he would start to do. You don't have to worry about the size. Well, Brent, we follow God and discipleship, and no one seems to care. No one seems to listen. We've had difficulties. We've had troubles. Our ministry hasn't been as successful as we want. That's not your department. You just be faithful in following God and sacrificially giving and going and being and doing what God wants you to do, and He'll take care of the rest. Moreover, it's required that a man be found faithful, not necessarily successful. But when God's people are faithful, God will add at His timing, not ours. Again, look at what it says there in Luke chapter 12, in verse number 33. Jesus says that make an exchange here. Sell that ye have, give alms. Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. What is our Lord and Savior saying in this passage? He's telling us very literally to make an exchange. Every single one of us have a set amount of time and a set amount of income. And it's different for every single one of us, but that's what God, that's the resources that God has given to each and every one of us. And what is Jesus saying? Exchange, give it away, invest. You can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. Years ago, I was working after college. I worked for some dear friends of mine. They're like grandparents to me. And they're getting older, quite a bit older now, but they had gone through horrific house fire. They had taken an old school building from the 19-teens-20s time period, and they had converted it into a house. It was one of those ones you walk up the stairs and there's these big doors and this, you know, this big gable coming out and you walk in and there's two rows of classrooms. Well, the one side they had actually taken the floor out and that became their barn and their hay storage and everything else. The other side they had made into a house and they had made it very nice. And they even had the gym behind it and then the shop behind that. It was an old 4-H type school in the middle of the country back from the 19-teens and 20s. Well, this is about 2002-2003. One Saturday night, they had just gone to bed, and they were laying down, and all of a sudden they heard this roaring sound. And before they knew it, they smelled smoke. And they got out with their clothes on their back, and they lost everything. Because it was a special structure, they had never been able to get insurance for it. They lost everything. And thankfully, their son and daughter-in-law lived a couple hundred yards down the road and had just finished a big house with an in-law suite. And so they moved in there for several months, and I came and was there helping them for a few months, knew them from my church. And they're the type of people through their life had given a lot to missions, to people. They had given cars away. They had given all sorts of furniture away. They're the type of people you walk through their house and say, oh, that's a pretty piece. Oh, here, take it with you. They were that way. They made the statement after the fire, people started giving back to them what they had given away to them. And they said, Brent, it's kind of interesting now. The only things we have in life now are what we gave away. And there's truth there. The only things truly we have are what you give away. And Jesus is saying in this verse here, sell that you have, exchange what you and I have, we hang on to so much, that what we can't take with us. Sell it for what really matters. Take your time, your energy, your funds, and invest them in God's work. Jesus said specifically, you sacrifice for me, you'll gain a hundred fold. That's 10,000%. Thank you. I don't know about you, but my money markets are not doing 10,000%. We praise God. We go, oh, 17% this quarter. This is great. 10,000%. And all of us have accounts in heaven. All of us can earn rewards in heaven. Paul talked about, I desire fruit to be added to your account. And what is that saying? When you give, God sees. God knows. And you're not losing. No, no, no. You're actually gaining. And God is able to keep it because there's no federal tax. And you know, there's no Social Security and death tax up there. Give it away. Invest in what really matters. Seek God's kingdom first. What is Jesus doing? He's saying, hey, don't worry. Consider what I do with all these menial things. I'm your Heavenly Father. Instead of living like the world does worldly, know that I have your back and you can seek God. You can hazard your time. You can do foolish things financially in your family's eyes. You can give regularly. to people who are in different countries sharing the gospel. And when you do, we always think of it in the negative. You put it, you know, you got your checkbook ledger, if you still have a checkbook, and you have your checkbook ledger, what do we think? We give it away, we think negative, right? No. We're looking at it all wrong. You give it to God, He adds it to your account. And you give sacrificially where it hurts. It's an incredible blessing. I may not have much here, but what I can have and what I do have, I can give sacrificially to God. That's the essence of being a disciple. Living by faith is not about how much money you make. It's about how much money you give. Living by faith is not about how much time you keep. It's about how much time you give back to God. Well, Brent, that doesn't make any sense. You've got to prepare for retirement. Again, you sacrifice. Brent, what's your retirement plan? Yeah, I've got a few little things I'm doing, but my retirement plan is this. Sacrificially give to the work of the ministry, and my God will provide all my needs until I breathe my last here, and then he'll take care of me for all of eternity. Sounds like a pretty sound plan to me, doesn't it? But here's what we have to do, friends. In our heart, we have to say, God, I choose to believe your word. over what this world has told me I have to do to be sound financially and be secure. And in our Western world, we have to watch out for the idol of security. We have to watch out for the idol of comfort. Well, Brent, we got to take care of this. We got to take care of this. We got to set this annuity up and this and this. And I'm not against all that. But that often can become an idol. And it often can be actually guys, and good stewardship can be guys as materialism and covetousness. Well, I want to take care of my family. Do God's will first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and hazard your life and money and time. Instead of living like a worrywart, hazard it for the glory of God. Years ago, I heard this quote, and in fact, I heard it on a kid's video, a kid's CD or a kid's tape or something. I've never forgotten it. The treasure you have today will grow in value when given away. Your wealth will increase when to God it is given. With the gold you have found, lay up treasures in heaven. Thank you, Patch the Pirate. And it's truth. Give it away. Give it away. Because you can't take it with you. Instead of living paralyzed, seek God's kingdom first. Because he's got your back. He's got you. He has you. And that's why so many of God's people through the centuries have hazarded their life and families and gone into harm's way for the glory of God. Because Jesus said at the end, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. That's discipleship. Perhaps it is tonight that some of us have become so focused on stuff, materialism, covetousness, and we don't call it that. We call it, well, we gotta be a good steward. We do have to be a good steward, but it can quickly, very quickly turn into covetousness. Tonight we repent and say, God, I wanna trust you. I want to follow you. I want to live my life as a stranger and pilgrim. I want to live my life like Abraham did, living it for a hundred years in a tent to follow you and to know you and to trust you and to see my life actually make a difference. If I keep it, you lose it. If you give it away, you actually gain it. What a joy it is to be